Welcome to Despair-Village (SYOC)
by lfdalesew
Summary: "Upupupu! Welcome, welcome to this beautiful Village of Despair! Don't lose your stuffing, students, Mayor Monokuma will take good care of you until you have graduated!" (SYOC CLOSED)
1. Prologue

"It is so gorgeous!"

I was nearly overwhelmed by the beauty and the pride of the tall building. It looked like it had already been here for ages although I knew that it was built only some years ago.

'Hope's Peak Academy' was the name of the school, apparently it was based on the model of a famous Japanese school, not that I knew so much about Japanese schools.

It was said that everyone on Hope's Peak Academy had the guarantee of a successful life since only the best students of the world got a place there. I still couldn't believe that I got accepted, of course I always had good marks in school but there had been better students than me. In fact it looked that I only got here because I liked to learn about people.

Yes, not only the best students came here but those who had a special talent, something in which they were ultimately the best. From all over the world students in their final years were picked and they all would come here to England. I was proud of my homeland for that and more than curious to get to know all the others.

"I even have goosebumps!" I took out my little note pad and wrote that down. When I was alone I usually talked to myself and I always wrote down my reactions to new situations.

While I was writing I noticed something – there were no other students here yet. I had expected them all to be standing in front of the building and looking at it in awe. Maybe I had come too late?

I checked my watch but it really was 8.58. a.m. and the letter had said I should be there at nine o'clock. Like always I was in time. But maybe the others had already all gone inside? There was no reason to wait any longer!

I adjusted my tie and checked if my sticker was still where it should be. The letter had also said I should wear this sticker with the words 'Lewis Breen – Ultimate Psychologist' but I hoped that I could get rid of it once school began.

And so I opened the door and stepped into the building.

It had been warm outside but as soon as I entered I shivered. Someone was watching me, I could feel it. I could feel the presence of something evil here.

And then suddenly all my lights went out...

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 **Welcome, welcome, dear readers!**

 **The SYOC is closed now and the list with the accepted talents will be in the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who submitted!**

 **I hope I will have the first chapter done quickly.**


	2. All talents

**Thank you so much for all the characters I've got!**

 **Here are all the Ultimate Talents I accepted:**

\- Psychologist

\- Sidekick

\- Miner

\- Historian

\- Explorer

\- Fisher

\- Hunter

\- Trapper

\- Talk Show Host

\- Tourist

\- Hypnotist

\- Hacker

\- Magician

\- Explosive Expert

\- Drum Major

\- Artist


	3. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter I

**And here is Chapter one!**

 **First, I have to warn you: since English is not my native language there may be grammatical mistakes in it.**

 **And now enjoy the first half of the introductions!**

The first thing I saw when I woke up was the camera on the ceiling, directed at my head. For a moment I blankly stared at it and wondered where I was and what actually happened. I remembered going inside the school and then... nothing.

Slowly I turned my head and noticed that I wasn't in school anymore. I had seen some pictures of the school and I was very sure that no room looked so much like a living room like this here.

There was a huge, cosy looking sofa, a small table standing in front of it, small arm chairs, another table with a huge TV on it, another monitor for unknown reasons next to it, and a chest of drawers.

Just then I noticed that I wasn't alone in the room, there were two more people, a boy and a girl around my age, also laying on the carpeted floor. _They aren't harmed, are they?_

"Hey, are you alright?" I was quickly on my knees and shook the boy next to me softly. He slowly opened his maroon coloured eyes and blinked confused. "Huh? W-where am I? Is this a school, did I fall asleep in class again?"

I smiled reassuringly. "I don't think so. We have to be...somewhere else."

He rubbed his eyes with his hands covered in black, fingerless leather gloves and looked around, finally getting the situation.

I already went to the other person who was still laying on the ground, a girl this time. "We should wake her up," I said and the other boy slowly came nearer, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "You mean we should...touch her?"

I could see he was regarding her very closely, the shape of her body underneath the dark blue skirt, the wavy black hair framing the pretty, pale face, the slightly opened red lips, the slightly heaving breast when she was breathing.

"Yes," I simply replied and touched her shoulder. "Wake up, will you?"

She quickly opened her bright blue eyes and looked around with the same confused expression like the boy before her. "Did my father set this up?" she murmured. "Excuse me?" I asked, making her realise that she wasn't alone.

Quicker than I had expected she was on her feet, jumping on the sofa, whirling around and finally bowing down deeply to us, lifting a black top hat she had pulled out from the blank air it seemed.

"Be greeted! It is I, Amelia D'Lacey, the Ultimate Magician! You may call me Ammy, heh." She chuckled softly and then asked "And who is my audience?"

Just then I realised that there was no sticker pinned on their clothes, neither on Ammy's black jacket nor on the boy's long grey hoodie. And as I checked my own shirt I couldn't find mine either. Well, I had wanted to get rid of it anyway...

"I'm Reece Floyd," the boy introduced himself now, adjusting the blood red goggles on top of his dark brown hair. "But you can call me Red if you want to. And I'm the Ultimate Trapper."

"Oh, interesting!" Ammy smiled. "What do you trap?"

"Usually little animals," Reece answered jokingly. "And maybe sometimes pretty girls."

Ammy giggled and then asked me "And who are you? Let me guess, the Ultimate Writer?"

I had written down their dialogue so far and put the note pad aside now. "Not quite. I'm Lewis Breen, the Ultimate Psychologist."

"Interesting. Tell me if you need some magic tricks for help," she offered and then jumped off the sofa again. "Now, where are we?"

That was a good question. Certainly this was not the school, probably someone else's house. But who brought us here? And why? And why were there cameras in a living room?!

I noticed two doors who were opened a bit, one apparently led to a corridor, the other one to another room. Curiously I waited for the other two to choose.

"Let's see what waits for us behind this one!" Ammy said, pointing at the finger at the one leading to another room and we three went over there. While we were walking I noticed for the first time how short Reece was, even smaller than Ammy. Short guys often had some kind of complexions, it would be interesting for me to keep an eye on him.

Apparently the next room was an atelier with an incredibly high ceiling. There was only one very small window and a ladder standing some feet away from it. I guessed that the ladder was needed to open or clean the window. On the wall were another camera as well as another monitor.

But for the moment I was more excited about the two students in this room. We three weren't the only ones here!

One girl had been standing in front of a canvas, painting something on it. Once we entered she turned around and smiled at us excitedly. "Hi!" she said, waving her paint brush at us. "My name is Panini Chao, but you can just call me Nini! I'm the 'Ultimate Artist'! Nice to meet you!"

She was the first foreign student I had seen here, her accent sounded like she was from the United States. After her words she giggled, holding one hand to the corner of her mouth and accidentally smearing some hot pink paint to her cheek. She had bound her light brown hair into two pigtails and while the right one reached to her shoulder, the left one fell down to her waist, the tips of the hair already coloured in hot pink as well.

She wore a green apron over a white blouse with pink ribbons tying the sleeves and brown jeans. Her tan skin gave her a slightly Mediterranean look, yet she had light blue eyes with a carefree sparkle in them.

As we greeted her a smug voice with a slight French accent interrupted us. "You aren't really going to ignore me, are you?"

We turned our heads to see another girl sitting elegantly on a chair, apparently Nini had been painting her.

I had to admit that this girl looked exactly like I would have imagined a diva. She was simply beautiful with her clean, pale skin, the glossy pink lips and the very long pale blonde hair with two big ringlets resting on her shoulders. Yet the way she narrowed her pink eyes gave her face an arrogant and slightly intimidating look.

Her clothes matched the impression. She wore a white button-up dress shirt with short, puffy sleeves and a hot pink skirt barely reaching her knees. A fluffy white scarf was draped over her shoulders, a white headband that almost had the same colour as her hair graced her head, attracting attention due to a cyan flower made up of crystals on it. The elegantly crossed legs rested in black tights, the feet in white high heels.

Now that she had our attention the girl fanned herself with a blue and pink traditional fan with black flowers on it and proudly proclaimed: "I'm Vivienne Marquis. You may know me from my talk show, Marquess Matters." She chuckled conceitedly.

"Never heard of it," Ammy said with a shrug and Reece confessed "I don't watch so much TV actually."

I could see that it hurt Vivienne that we didn't know her show and to make her feel her better I asked "So, you are the Ultimate Talk Show Host?"

"That should be obvious by now, fool," she snapped, fanning herself in a sulky way.

"Oh, I know this show!" Panini said now, beaming happily about her memory. "You once talked about that you liked traditional art, right? And you had this self-made painting, it was so cute!"

"Thank you, dear," Vivienne said graciously.

"Well, do you know where we are?" I asked and both of them shook their heads. "Nope, but I think it's something like a big game," Nini answered. "Some fun for our first day of school!"

Hopefully this was the real reason behind all of this. We left the two girls who started talking about 'Marquess Matters' behind and went on to the corridor.

To the right it led to a staircase, to the left it led to another door. _Probably the exit_. I went towards it and tried to open it but it was locked. _Alright, apparently we must search this house a bit more._

I turned around and heard someone swearing under his breath, as well as heavy steps. Opposite to the door was another staircase, this one leading down to the basement. And just now someone angrily stepped up the stairs. "Damn it! Why is this shit door not opening?!" I heard him rant. "What is this fucking place?!"

The boy – although I would have rather called him a man – looked seriously intimidating. His skin had a rusty tan colour, the hair he wore as a man bun was jet-black. He was wearing a string with a miniature metal pickaxe on it around his neck, together with black boots, black cargo shorts and a dirty white wife-beater which showed off his muscles. Hell, this guy was not only a large bit taller than me but also three times as muscular.

And now he pierced me with his dark blue eyes. I tried a smile.

He frowned and turned around to leave. "Hey, wait!"

"What?" he growled, obviously not interested in a talk.

Just then Reece and Ammy who had been chatting about something approached us and immediately the guy's behaviour changed completely. He smiled at Ammy almost suavely while completely ignoring Reece and said with a wink "Hello there, babe. It's Hachiku Yamawara, the Ultimate Miner. And judging your looks you're the Ultimate Model."

„No, I'm a Magician," Ammy responded. She put off her top hat and somehow pulled a beautiful rose out of it. "You see?" "I can truly see the magic on you," Hachiku replied and Ammy smiled. "You are thrilled? You want to see another magic trick? Well, Amelia D'Lacey is always prepared for it!"

I left the guys who wanted to see Ammy's magic tricks behind and went ahead to the staircase leading to the upper floor.

I had barely climbed the first step as someone came rushing down. "Hey there!" A girl called, jumped to my side and hugged me quickly. _My, she has sharp nails._

"I haven't seen you yet," she said with a grin. "I'm Marilyn Fyodorov, the Ultimate Historian!"

And well, her looks were fitting for that. Her wavy, light brown hair was bound to a messy French braid and reached her ribs. With the white jabot, the long Prussian blue coat with the white trim and the black leather boots reaching to her knees she looked like she wanted to pose for a historical picture. Although she didn't seem to be as smug as Vivienne did, the way she held her head high and the spark in her wide, light green eyes told me that she had pride.

I introduced myself as well and she asked "Have you known that psychology is an acknowledged science just since the beginning of the nineteenth century? Weird, isn't it? Since people have been interested in it for such a long time..." Suddenly she seemed to be completely lost in her thoughts and I coughed to bring her back. "What do you think this is?" I asked curiously and she shrugged. "I haven't found out yet. But it's really exciting, isn't it? I wonder what happens next!"

And with a grin she went on along the corridor while I continued my way up the stairs.

Again the way divided into two corridors and I decided to enter the left one where no lights were on besides a really dim one. I thought I could hear someone talking and curiously came nearer.

"I do not really like it here," I heard a high-pitched voice whisper. "I wonder how I have come here. Do you know a way to get out of here?"

As I came near I could see a small figure leaning against the wall. It was a little Japanese boy with long, jet-black hair, who was wearing a black jacket which looked much too long for him, it almost covered completely his blue shorts. Besides this he was wearing knee-high black socks and blue velcro shoes .

Surprisingly I saw no one else so I had no idea who he had been talking to. "Hello," I said but he completely ignored me and continued murmuring something. I wrote that down into my note pad and then tried a new start while coming a bit closer. "Are you alright?"

Now he looked up and seemed a bit startled about my sudden appearance. I could see that he had sapphire blue eyes with terrible rings under them.

"Ah, yes," he replied. "I am Akira Himura, the Ultimate Hacker." _So, he is a student after all?_

He was really small, the top of his head barely reached my shoulders. "Nice to meet you," I replied and introduced myself. "Do you mind me asking how old you are?"

"I do not mind. I am ten years old," he answered seriously. He was very young but so far I could tell he was behaving quite mature.

"With whom were you talking?" I asked and he replied with a shrug. "There are these voices in my head. They are quite helpful so I like talking to them."

 _Voices in his head? That kid really is an interesting case!_

„It is clearly some kind of schizophrenia," an emotionless voice behind me said and I quickly turned around to see a lean boy approaching. He radiated a sense of calm and although he had a friendly expression on his face his amber eyes almost lacked any emotion. "It must be a part of his personality which shows itself through a voice inside his head. He probably can't do anything against it by himself."

"Hey! Don't treat me like I'm crazy!" Akira protested while I eyed the newcomer curiously. He was Japanese as well, about my height and had long black hair that he had slicked back behind his head. Interesting was the white lab coat he was wearing, it had the comedy and tragedy masks on the left side of his chest.

"You are an Ultimate Psychologist?" he asked now and I nodded. "Yes, that's my talent. How did you know?"

"The look in your eyes. The way you tilt your head when you talk. Your expression when you heard about Akira's voices. These notes you are making. I know that habit. All this tells me that you're interested in other people and want to analyse them."

"Oh, you sure see a lot," I replied amazed. "What is your talent then?"

"My name is Daichi Etsuko," he answered and offered me a hand. "I am the Ultimate Psychologist."

For a moment I simply stared at his hand which was covered by a white glove with a K and a spade on it. _How could this happen?_ Then I shook his hand and flashed a smile. "So we have two Ultimate Psychologists here? Now, that's a surprise!" _Well, this could get really interesting..._

 **Thanks for reading! I'm really curious now what you think about the character so please write a review.**

 **Also, if you're thinking I totally misunderstood your character or if you simply want to tell me something more about your character, like how would he react to something or someone, just write a PM and I try to regard it.**

 **The next chapter should be there soon!**


	4. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter II

**Unawakened Spirit, FireDusk and CGStrykerz: Thank you so much for your nice reviews! I really appreciate that!**

 **And also thanks to those who follow and favourite this story.**

 **Let's get done with the introduction.**

We were still standing in the dim-lighted corridor when we heard more steps approaching. Neither Daichi nor I were turning around to see whoever was coming, I knew we both were judging who of us would be the first one to look away.

Akira on the other hand quickly greeted the new one. "Hello there. Are you looking for something?"

I forgot about Daichi and turned around as well now. A boy had come to us and indeed, the look in his dark green eyes was searching. He nodded towards us and replied "Actually, yes. Has one of you guys seen my equipment?"

I quickly analysed his looks. His light brown hair was cut short, his skin was lightly tanned as if he would spend a lot of time outside and his well-toned body was proof that he did many activities as well. His clothes consisted of woodland coloured jacket and pants combined with brown hunting boots and an orange hunting cap. It was obvious what kind of equipment he was looking for.

"I'm sorry, I haven't," I replied and the others gave the same answer. "I am Lewis Breen, Ultimate Psychologist by the way," I introduced myself with a smile. "And I am Akira Himura, Ultimate Hacker," Akira added. Daichi offered the new boy a hand and simply said "Daichi Etsuko, Ultimate Psychologist."

The boy looked at us, two guys with the same talent and a little boy. He simply shrugged it off, shook Daichi's hand firmly and answered "Nice to meet you. I am Artyom Alexeyevitch Volkov, the Ultimate Hunter. Without his Ultimate Hunting equipment as it seems."

"We can look for it together," Akira offered and the two of them disappeared, talking about how the equipment looked like.

"Have you looked around a lot so far?" Daichi asked me as soon as we were alone. "What do you think is going on here?" I had the feeling that he cared more about the way I would answer then about the actual answer to this question. I remembered what the students I already met had told me.

" _I_ _t's really exciting, isn't it?_ " Marilyn had asked and Panini had guessed " _I_ _t's s_ _omething like a big game. Some fun for our first day of school!_ " Both of them had been excited and not worried at all, just like Ammy who had happily given a performance of her magic skills. But I also remembered Hachiku's anger about the door which wouldn't open and the cameras everywhere. Even here I could spot one at the wall.

"It looks like an experiment," I answered. „Probably something about social interactions between students from different cultures who also possess Ultimate Talents."

Daichi nodded without showing his thoughts about this. Then he pointed at the hallway behind him. „I have looked around here. Apparently there are eighteen rooms; eight doors, a small gap, ten more doors. Next to each door I have noticed a small plate, each one of a different colour. And on each plate was a name written, apparently the names of all the students who are here now. It was possible for me to open the door with my name but I couldn't open any other door. And even more interesting, only on seventeen plates had been a name. The last one was completely empty."

"These are interesting news," I replied. "So everyone of us has his own room plus one mysterious room which probably no one can enter." I really wanted to see my room now. But I also wanted to see more of this place and find the students I haven't met yet. While Daichi went downstairs I looked around some more on this storey. I hadn't seen the corridor to the right yet.

Here I had to choose between two more doors, opposite to each other. I opened one and found myself in a small, pretty stuffed looking kitchen. Two girls were already looking around here and as soon as I entered one of them whirled around.

Now this girl was really worth a look. She had black hair reaching down to her waist and it was pretty obvious that black was her favourite colour. Her manicured fingernails were painted black and she had black lipstick on her full lips, too. She wore a black dress, consisting of a black leather miniskirt and a dark red corset, combined with a black pantyhouse, black high heeled boots reaching up to her knees and elbow-length fishnet gloves. The clothes showed her body off to advantage, the long legs, the nice curves, the ample bosom. Remarkable, that the most fascinating thing about her looks were her eyes. They had the typical Asian almond-like shape but they were of an icy blue and one had a white spiral in its centre. I started to feel dizzy simply by the look of it and quickly looked away.

"Oh, hey there!" the girl said, beaming at me. "The name's Tokaku Nishimiya an' I'm the best hypnotist there is! Be careful or I might put a spell on you!"

I could totally imagine that. It was one of the rare moments I had no idea what to say, so I just smiled and probably looked like a complete idiot. Tokaku didn't seem to notice it, she gently placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder and said "And this cutie here is Aviana Stenberg, the Ultimate best Explorer."

Aviana looked like the complete opposite of Tokaku. She had blonde hair, tied into two short ponytails. With her green t-shirt, the beige shorts, sandals and a white cap on her head she looked more athletic and much brighter than the Japanese lady. And while Tokaku was just a bit smaller than me, Aviana was not even reaching my chin. Furthermore she had a petite build with no real curves showing and this combined with her babyface with the big green eyes made me wonder if she was maybe just fourteen. Akira was here despite his young age, maybe this girl was, too?

She smiled a bit shyly while Tokaku cheerfully asked "And who are you?"

Not sure where to look I introduced myself. I didn't want to look into her hypnotising eyes but it had been very impolite to stare at her bosom instead. Slightly amused about myself I wondered how Daichi would have handled this.

"What? You, too?" Tokaku exclaimed. Apparently Daichi had already handled the situation. "There had been another guy here who also claimed to be a Psychologist, just some minutes ago, I think. I didn't know there could be two people being the Ultimate one."

"I did neither," I admitted. "But I don't think he was lying about his talent." "Hey, do you think there could be another Hypnotist here as well?" Tokaku asked. "I'm not sure if I'd like that..." „I don't think so," I reassured her. "You seem to be pretty, um, Ultimate."

During our talk Aviana had opened the drawers of the cupboards and inspected the content. Tokaku had called her the Ultimate Explorer so I guessed she liked to search this place. And somehow it was good to know that there was a kitchen here. Whoever started this experiment apparently didn't want to study the behaviour of starving students.

"It was nice to meet you," I said. "I'm going to look around a bit more now, alright?" Tokaku winked at me. "I haven't really put a spell on you, so do as you please. See you later!"

I went over to the next room which turned out to be a dining room, much bigger than the kitchen and actually quite cosy. There were two people sitting at the big dining table.

The girl was rocking forth and back, tears streaming down her cheeks and she was breathing heavily into a paper bag. The boy next to her was softly talking to her. Unfortunately it was in French so I could barely understand anything but his comforting tone of voice made his intentions clear. I watched how he acted towards the girl, smiling reassuringly, giving her words of confidence, staying near her but still giving her enough space. It was obvious that he was good with people. Very slowly the girl calmed down though still being on the verge of tears. The boy asked something and she nodded slightly.

Now the boy looked up and finally saw me. "Oh, hello there!" he said friendly. "My name's Alice, and I'm Ultimate Drum Major." Though he had been speaking French before his accent was American. Although he was quite short (well, not as short as Reece) he had an aura of confidence though not in a negative way. His eyes were shining and blue, his spiky hair was shimmering golden. Two curls on the left side of his face were sticking out, the one below his chin was of a dark grey colour. Also he wore a black uniform under a black jacket, making him look even more important. Well, he said he was a Drum Major. I noticed the golden star which was embedded on his left shoulder as well as the three white gems on the other shoulder and the strange red lines on his jacket.

Next to him the girl looked quite normal, wearing blue jeans and a red sweater with the word 'Globe' written in white on it. Her black hair was tied into two short pigtails, framing a rather pale face. Noticing I looked at her she introduced herself with a shaky voice. "Good day. M-My name is Sandrine Gatlin. I'm from Reims in France… I-It's nice to meet you…"

She didn't look very stable but maybe that was simply because of the strange situation. "It is nice to meet you, too," I said and her eyes teared up again. "Are you making fun of me?" she asked terrified. _Definitely unstable._ I could barely stop me from taking notes but that would have looked too rude. "Not at all," I replied with a soft smile. "Will you tell me your talent, Sandrine?" "O-okay," she said. "I am the Ultimate Tourist."

 _The Ultimate Tourist?! What kind of talent is this?_ I kept my smile. "That is a nice talent. So that's the reason you're having this camera with you?" She had a cheap looking camera strapped around her neck which she now touched carefully. "Y-yes. I like...photographing."

I guessed Alice had been talking in French with her since he thought it would calm her down to hear her mother language but her English was really good, I didn't even notice an accent. Since she was the Ultimate Tourist she must have seen a lot of places and probably learnt the languages as well. But visiting other countries and learning other languages, this created the image of a curious and lively person. I had to find out why she was so nervous now. Of all the people I met here she was the only one who was crying.

"And who are you?" Alice asked now and I briefly introduced myself. If they had met Daichi before they hid it. It was a really rude question but I just had to ask it! "Alice, may I ask you something? Your name..." "It sounds feminine, I know," he replied with a friendly smile. Apparently he wasn't easy to annoy. "But for some reason my father thought it was a nice name for me." _Well, at least his name is not 'River' or_ _something like this.._ _._

Sandrine had softly started to sob again and I quickly said "Have you seen the kitchen? I am sure they have ingredients for a fine tea there. That would calm down our nerves."

"That's a good idea," Alice said, standing up and offering Sandrine a hand in a fingerless, black glove. "Upstairs is a music room by the way," he told me. "You should definitely see it." He didn't say it out loud but I had the feeling that he would have liked to return to that music room but couldn't because he decided to stay with Sandrine.

So I went to the second storey alone. It was apparently the highest storey of the building, with only two more rooms here. Once I had seen both of them I would return to the corridor with our chambers, I decided.

The first room I entered was the music room Alice had spoken of. Indeed, it was nice and big with cosy looking armchairs and all kinds of instruments laying around. Also it had a big window so I could see the clear blue sky outside. And of course there were cameras and a monitor at the wall. I also wasn't alone here, a girl was already looking around and I had the feeling she tried her best to ignore me. She was wearing a blue and white striped vest top, as well as light blue jeans and white flip flops.

I approached her and greeted her with a smile she didn't return. At least she stopped ignoring me and I could introduce myself. Then I looked at her curiously. "Hmm? You wanna know my name?" she asked with a slight frown and brushed a strand of her brown hair out of her face. "Well, the name is Tani Tsubaki... The Ultimate Fisher. I would vastly prefer if you could stay outta my business from now on, ya got that?"

Unfortunately I was terrible at staying out of people's business especially if they told me to. I just wanted to know people better and if they apparently wanted to be alone this made me even more curious. But for now I would be nice and leave her alone. There was still one room left I wanted to explore.

It looked just like a giant junk room with all kinds of lumber lying around. A naked bulb was the only source of light here since there were no windows. It seriously surprised me that even here were cameras. Two boys were exploring the room, better said, one of them was exploring. The other one was leaning against the wall with a somehow bored expression.

He had lapis eyes with thick eyelashes and golden hair so I guessed girls would say he had a handsome face. The boy was wearing a black shirt with a red leather choker, dark green pants and black combat boots. Around his neck he had black biker goggles resting, I could see black studs in his ears and a ring was piercing the helix of the left one. He paid no attention to the other boy but instead played with a flick lighter and that was what made me nervous. If there was something I couldn't stand, it was fire.

The boy with the lighter looked over to me and smirked. "You don't look like competition so I guess I'll tell you my name," he said and I noticed his Australian accent. "Ari Matsumoto, pleasure."

"Lewis Breen," I replied, not able to say more since he still had this lighter in his hand, switching it on and off. "What?" Ari asked, noticing my staring. "Don't you like Donovan?" I could only guess that he was speaking about his lighter. "Not really," I replied. "I don't like fire." Ari's smirk turned into a sneer as he said "Well, sorry to hear that, mate, since I'm the Ultimate Explosive Expert." But he put his lighter back to his pocket. "Thank you," I said and he leaned back again. "No worries. Though it's totally not cool that we are trapped here, wherever we are. Found anything yet, Jason?"

The other boy appeared behind a pile of ugly pillows. "No. B-but here are a-all kind of things, s-so we must find s-some clues eventually," he stammered. The boy was huge, even taller than Hachiku, and despite this he looked quite shy. He had black hair with a giant cowlick bang with a grey highlight in front. He was not as muscular as Hachiku, rather lanky and actually slightly chubby. Underneath an open denim jacket with short sleeves he wore a white t-shirt. Seriously, just by looking at him I had no idea what his talent could be.

"You are looking for clues where we are?" I asked. "That is a good idea." Jason was hiding behind the pile again, apparently searching the content of a big sack. "He's the Ultimate Sidekick," Ari told me smirking. First I thought it was a joke but since Jason didn't disagree it really had to be his talent. _That's interesting._

Just then the monitor on the wall suddenly turned on. There was no real image seen, just a green flickering. And we could hear a voice calling. "To all new students of Hope's Peak Aacdemy! Important, important! We will meet in the common room in five minutes! You all have to attend, "I just had to finish this honeypot!" is no excuse! I'm looking forward to see you all! Upupupupu."

The annoying laughter kept on. I really couldn't tell if it had been a man or a woman talking or even a child. But I could definitely hear the evil in this voice.

 **Hope you liked it and would love to read some reviews!**


	5. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter III

**Thank you so much: Last Remedy, FireDusk, Unawakened Spirit, TechniqueFantasy, WendyDokuro, Lloyd's fics! Your reviews made me very happy and I'm glad you like the characters!**

 **This is the last sort-of introduction chapter before the daily killing-life begins.**

We all gathered in the living room and as I saw Amelia and Reece standing together, I went over to them. This time Ammy didn't jump onto the sofa but she bowed slightly and lifted her top hat with a wink. Reece had his hands in his pockets when he greeted me and looked totally relaxed. For some reason it was nice seeing the two of them here again. I had met a lot of people in a short time so I hardly could decide who I should study first. Staying with the two of them looked like a good beginning. Still I looked around to quickly get an impression what the others were doing.

Vivienne sat with crossed legs on the sofa, fanning herself in an elegant manner. Hachiku was sitting next to her, his arms nonchalantly laying on the backrest, one hand was almost touching Vivienne's shoulder. I could guess that this was what Hachiku was trying to achieve.

Daichi was sitting on one of the armchairs, writing something down in his journal while looking up from time to time. Ari had occupied the other armchair and the bored expression on his face made me worry that he was thinking about setting something on fire here. Tani had entered now and made her way through the room. Once she approached him Ari said something with a smirk and Tani glanced at him with her dark blue eyes before quickly going away.

She wasn't the only one who rather stayed by herself. Despite his height Jason was somehow merging with the background, Artyom stood alone in a corner and Sandrine kept her distance as well, clutching her camera nervously.

Near the door I could see Alice talking with Marilyn and Akira, while Panini and Tokaku were having a conversation as well, having Aviana standing not so far from them and silently observing the room.

Just then we all could hear a voice, the same strange voice from before. "Everyone there? Everyone there? Can you all hear me? Let me hear a loud 'Yes!'."

"Yes!" Panini exclaimed excitedly and some other joined in while the most of us just waited what would happen next. One drawer flew open and something came crawling out of the chest of drawers. The students standing next to it quickly stumbled backwards.

"Hello there! Your headmaster himself had come to explain the most important rules to you youngsters!" I wondered if I was dreaming, it really looked like there was a talking stuffed bear walking through the room. Whoever had thought of this design must have been crazy when he thought any child would buy it – the bear was black and white and while the white half looked like a normal teddy bear the black one possessed an evil grin as well as a shining red eye. And this should be... our headmaster?

Ammy applauded. "That was a good trick," she explained. "I wonder how he managed to fit into this small drawer." "It's cute!" Panini said with a beaming smile. "Adorable." Tani sounded clearly sarcastic but Nini didn't seem to notice that. "Now tell us where we are and why," the Japanese demanded, while the bear climbed up the table.

"Upupupupu! You're an impatient one, aren't you? Don't ruin my performance, it's my first time after all! I'm like so excited!" He fanned himself with his pawns and Vivienne snapped her own fan shut. "Don't you waste my time like this! Now tell us your name and what you want from us."

"I! Am! Monokuma!" The bear exclaimed dramatically. "And I am responsible for all of you until you graduate!"

"So this really is a new wing to the Academy?" Tokaku asked and Monokuma shook his fluffy head. "It's even better! This is Hope's Peak Village! An entire village just for you guys! Isn't that the dream of every student?" He seemed to be totally touched from his words and Reece simply replied "Well, I have other dreams. Where are we here?"

Monokuma growled angrily. "I told you it's Hope's Peak Village! Just a second ago! Are you deaf maybe? Or just stupid?" "I'm not," Reece frowned. "Just where is this Hope's Peak Village?"

"That is like top secret! Hahahahahaha! But you sure will love being here!"

"You said we have an entire village," Alice piped up. "But we can't even leave this house." Monokuma tilted his head. "You can't? Hm, that's beary strange, hehe. But totally not important right now! We've been talking about your wonderful student-life! You will all be living here, forever, just you guys! Isn't that great? Isn't that simply wonderful?!"

"Forever?!" someone said horrified and then everyone was talking at once. I just stared at the bear, this strange creature which seemed to enjoy the panic and anger of my classmates. So this was the experiment I had been thinking about. But who was behind it? And had they spoken with our parents about it? Surely they couldn't pull this through without the allowance of our families. On the other hand I couldn't imagine at all that my parents would agree to such an experiment.

"Okay, okay," Monokuma said now. "It won't really be forever." Everyone went silent and looked at the bear with new hope. "I'm sure in ninety years everyone of you is gone, hahahahaha!"

"Enough of this crap!" Hachiku had jumped to his feet and quickly grabbed the surprised Monokuma. "You really think I would listen to a fucking _toy_? I'm not a little girl! I could throw you right out of the next window!" "Violence against authorities is an absolute no-go!" Monokuma waved his arms and legs around, trying to free himself. "Rule number 4! Throw me out of a window and you won't be able to see the rest of this beautiful village!" "You think I'm scared?" Hachiku asked, narrowing his eyes and Monokuma giggled. "You can try it if you want to. But I'm not the one who will clean up your bloody remains afterwards."

Hachiku hesitated for a second, looking around insecurely. Everyone was silent, no one dared to move. I excitedly bit my lip. How would Hachiku handle this situation? I didn't know him well but from what I had seen so far I imagined he would throw Monokuma out of the window, just to prove that he wasn't a person who would back down.

And then Panini said "Oh, put the cute bear down. It would be sad if it got broken." I had the feeling she didn't sense the mood at all. Hachiku dropped Monokuma and the bear quickly got to his feet again, rubbing his tummy. "Ow, ow, that hurt, you stupid musclehead! Maybe I should execute you after all. I will think about it. Young people are always so rebellious – if any of you still wants to know the rules, just read your student-handbook. You can find them in your rooms. And just so you know because of your behaviour you all get detention!"

Regarding our situation no one was really impressed by this. Monokuma scratched his head. "Hm? You like detention? Does that mean you don't want to leave anymore? Oh, I'm totally flattered as a teacher but I still have to tell you this: It is totally normal to leave school someday. And to leave you just have to graduate! Tadaa! It's totally simple, right? Just like in any other school!"

"So we really have lessons?" Alice asked and Monokuma promised „Nah, it's even better! Studying for exams, how boring is that?! No, to graduate you just have to kill somebody and that's it!" "I probably misunderstood you," Alice said slowly. "We have to... k-kill somebody? But who?"

"Another student of course!" Monokuma sounded as if that was completely obvious. "The one no one likes! The one who always eats all the bagels for breakfast! The one who loses at rock-paper-scissors! Like I would care! Just kill someone!"

I couldn't believe what I just heard. Was this really happening?! We should actually kill each other?! Everyone seemed too shocked to say something and I could practically feel despair creeping towards us. And then we heard loud laughter.

Everyone turned around to see Tokaku and Panini laughing together as if they had just watched a comedy show. But when she saw the horror on our faces Tokaku's laughter quickly died down and she turned pale as she finally realised what was happening. Panini kept on giggling until Tokaku softly poked her in the ribs. Nini looked around with a confused expression. "What? It's just a joke, isn't it?" "Nope!" Monokuma replied. "You're looking at a serious bear."

Daichi looked as expressionless as before when he asked "If I would actually kill somebody would that set the whole group free or just me?"

"Hey! You're not really planning to kill someone!" Reece exclaimed but Daichi paid him no attention. Monokuma tilted his head once more. "Oh, good question. Bearrry good question! Only you will graduate of course. Why should I set the rest of this lazy bunch free when they didn't do anything?"

So everyone who wanted to leave had to kill someone. That was too much, I could read it in every face. Artyom muttered "Oh shit..." and looked down at the big skinning knife in his hands. Everyone had paid attention to Monokuma so no one had seen him getting the knife. Sandrine who had started to hyperventilate again, rolled her eyes now and fainted. Everyone else took a step back. "Hey, be careful with that!" Marilyn shouted. "Where the hell did you get that from?" "Didn't you say you couldn't find your equipment?" Daichi asked calmly. Artyom shrugged and put the knife back into his pocket. "Yes, my equipment is gone. But I always keep this knife in my pocket. …. Not for murder though."

Monokuma chuckled. "Oh, there is one more thing I should add: you have to kill someone without letting the others know that you're the terrible murderer! I just say so much, if you fail you won't get a second chance for murder."

"Stop it!" Marilyn exclaimed. "This is all just a bad prank, isn't it? As if anyone here would actually kill somebody! This is just too weird!" "No, no, no!" Monokuma protested. "You're hurting my feelings now! I wouldn't lie to my beloved students! This is all real! And now look how late it got! You should all be in your rooms by now. Goooood niiiiight!" And with that he pirouetted and climbed back into the drawer.

The others all started talking at once and I could feel the panic literally waving through the room. "Are you alright?" I asked Ammy and Reece. Ammy's blue eyes were wide in shock. "This can't be true," she whispered horrified. "Do you think someone would actually...kill?" "Nope, I at least couldn't do it," Reece replied quickly. "I will never kill a human being. Only small rodents." He winked at her and Ammy managed a shaky smile. I gave her a reassuring smile as well but I wasn't so sure about this. Human psyche was really fascinating and I knew that even people who would never think of killing could become murderers under certain circumstances.

Daichi didn't look as shocked as the most of the others, he calmly closed his journal and then said "We should take care of that". He pointed at Sandrine who still was unconscious and although he didn't raise his voice everyone turned silent and looked at him. Probably because he managed it to sound so calm and reasonable.

Ammy and Panini quickly went to Sandrine and promised to bring her to her room. We watched them go and then Alice said "We should all stay calm now and think about it. As long as we all get along there won't be..." He stopped when Tani turned around and left the room. "Where are you going?" "Somewhere I won't be killed," she simply said.

Ari had crossed his arms and looked at us with a deadpanned expression now. "We should kill to go home? Not cool! I'm outta here." And with that he left, too. "Damn it, this is all just a very fucked-up joke," Hachiku growled, going as well. Vivienne had hidden her face behind her fan but her voice sounded scoffing as she said "Now this was all just ridiculous. I won't waste my time with this any longer." Elegantly she got up and threw her head back before strutting to the door.

"Wait!" Alice called but he couldn't hold the others back. Some left because of fear or simple disbelief what was happening. In the end we were only five who were still standing together.

Alice sighed. "I can't believe all of this." Marilyn nodded eagerly. "I don't believe it either. But if anyone tries to kill me..." So far I had thought she was just a cheerful and nice girl but now she clearly had a dangerous shimmer in her green eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't kill anyone," Reece repeated with a determined voice. "And I won't let anyone here kill anyone." Alice nodded. "As long as we all get along I don't think anything will happen. I mean, killing? This is beyond cruel – who would do that?! And they can't possibly keep us trapped here forever."

"But just imagine they could." Daichi sounded as calm as ever. "Maybe they are right and there is no escape from here." "So you say, we should actually kill?" Marilyn asked frowning. "No. But if the others finally discover that we cannot possibly escape from here... maybe someone will snap. Maybe someone will be so desperate to try out everything – even a murder."

The others exchanged worried glances and I decided to say something to cheer them up. "We are in a village here, aren't we? There must be some way to escape or to call for help from outside."

We decided to sleep over it for a night and if the situation hadn't changed by tomorrow we would gather everyone in the dining hall for breakfast and talk about everything.

 **As always I would love to read your reviews! But I also have another task for you:**

 **I hvaen't decided yet how many Free Time Events will happen before the First Murder but on my profile you can find a poll where you can vote for three people Lewis should spend more time with. (And don't worry, I will try to give every character enough screen time.)**

 **Thank you all for reading!**


	6. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter IV

**Reapergenesis32, RubyLeo and Kitty Painter: Thanks a lot for your reviews and I'm glad you're content with the portrayal of your characters so far!**

 **And also thanks to Unawakened Spirit, FireDusk, CGStrykerz and TechniqueFantasy, your thoughts are very interesting for me so thanks for sharing them!**

 **Now, may the first day begin!**

"Good morning, everyone! It is 8 a.m. now and everyone is ready for another wonderful school day in our great village!"

These were the first words I heard when I woke up, an annoying proof that yesterday had really happened and I was indeed trapped inside a strange building, together with sixteen other students who should kill each other to escape. And our observer was a creepy toy watching us all through several cameras. Right now, I could see Monokuma on the monitor which was installed in my room. The bear waved towards me now, proving that I watched a video instead of a picture.

I could see that Monokuma was sitting behind a desk, apparently somewhere outside of this building since I hadn't seen such a desk here. The wall behind him was dark and I could see a part of a picture frame on it.

The next moment the monitor went black again and I got up. I had never thought that someday I would actually sleep underneath a camera. But when I had come to my room yesterday I had felt so exhausted and confused that I didn't care about anything else but the giant bed in the middle of the room. But now I decided to look around a bit more.

My room looked like a normal sleeping room, it was almost a bit disappointing. Next to the bed was a little cabinet, the floor was covered by a dark blue wall-to-wall carpet, the walls were of a friendly wooden colour. I had a wardrobe (with clothes in my size), an armchair and a reading lamp next to it. There also was a big window, giving me the possibility to look at the blue sky. I could see houses near to our stay and the fact that I could see them made the thought of being trapped much more unreal.

There were two doors here, one leading to the hallway, one to a small bathroom I quickly checked. It looked as normal as the sleeping room and at least here were no cameras. Returning to the other room I wondered if all the chambers looked alike. I should definitely visit the others in their rooms later.

Now there was only one thing left which made me curious – the bedside cabinet. I opened it and found two things inside it: a chocolate bar with a little picture of Monokuma on the transparent wrapping (I guessed that it was a normal Snickers) and something that looked like a very flat mobile phone. When I switched it on I realised that it had to be this Student-handbook Monokuma had been talking of yesterday.

On a yellow background the word 'menu' appeared, together with the school emblem. I had four options to click on

\- rules

\- students

\- environment

\- Monokuma file

I clicked on 'rules' and read:

1)Students of Hope's Peak Academy are allowed to walk freely through the village.

2)Nighttime begins at 10 p.m. and ends at 8 a.m. It is forbidden to spend the night outside of the

own sleeping room.

3)It is forbidden to destroy the cameras or monitors of the school.

4)Violence against any authorities like headmaster Monokuma is forbidden.

5)It is forbidden to stay away from gatherings Monokuma has summoned.

6)Students are only allowed to leave Hope's Peak Village after their graduation.

7)Monokuma has the right to make up new rules at any time.

I was still thinking about these rules when I noticed the little clock on the handbook, telling me that it was already nine a.m. I had almost forgotten that the others had wanted to meet for breakfast, I should better hurry over there.

When I came in everyone else had already gathered and to be honest I was a bit surprised to see some people there. After quickly counting I noticed that only one students was missing. "Ah, Lewis, good to see you here," Alice greeted me with a friendly smile. Tokaku waved at me and asked "Have you seen Avi?" _Avi? Oh, the little Explorer-girl._ "No, I'm sorry," I replied, taking a seat next to Reece. "I knocked at her door and told her about our meeting," Tokaku explained. "It's strange that she doesn't come."

"Maybe she needs some time," I tried to reassure her. "Probably she feels safer on her own. Or she just isn't a morning person."

"Well, _I'm_ not a morning person," Ari grumbled. "Will that bear always wake us up this early? Not cool..." "I'm afraid we have bigger worries than that," Marilyn said but she smiled a bit. "Does anyone have an idea how to get out of here?" 

"We could open a window and climb through it," Reece suggested and shrugged. "I would try it." Tani stood up. "Good, we've solved this. Can I go now?" "Don't you want to eat something?" Alice asked and pointed at a plate with fish he thought Tani would like. While she sighed and sat down again I asked "Where did you get all these food from?"

There were all kinds of food, so everyone could find something he would like to eat. I noticed that for some reason no one had taken a bagel although there was an entire plate of them. _Perfect for me then._

"We found it like this in the kitchen when we came there this morning," Amelia explained. "It's like magic, isn't it?" Apparently she had found back to her cheerful self again.

"By the way," Akira suddenly piped up. Although he definitely was the youngest of us he seemed to handle the situation quite well. The rings under his eyes got darker but the boy looked calm – I was more worried about Sandrine who clutched a croissant without eating anything and who looked like she would burst into tears any moment.

"Have you seen this?" Akira asked now and showed us his handbook. It looked like he was totally fascinated by this thing. "There is a map of this place on it. It also shows where the students are at the moment or rather where their handbooks are. So it should be possible to locate each other if we have our handbooks with us." Here he smiled mischievously as if he could hear a joke no one else could hear. Well, it probably was like this.

"And there are information about every student," Akira added, making some of the others look uncomfortable. "What kind of information?" Vivienne asked with a frown on her pretty face. "Nothing to worry about, just name, talent, height, weight, things like this," Akira explained but I had the feeling that not all of the girls were happy to have their weight exposed. "And then there is this Monokuma file," Akira continued. "But for some reason I cannot open it."

"Maybe it's broken," Ari guessed and yawned. "I cannot open it either," Daichi disagreed with him. "I suppose we can only open it when Monokuma wants us to." Well, Akira was the Ultimate Hacker – if anyone could open this device for us it was probably him.

For now Daichi had another question for the boy. "What colour does your menu have?" Akira looked a bit surprised. "Sapphire blue. Why?" Daichi nodded as if he had expected this answer. "Our handbooks have the same colour as the plates next to our doors then. And I guess they are our favourite colours."

Everyone seemed to think about it and I came to the conclusion that Daichi was right. Both my handbook-menu and my door plate were of this happy yellow I liked. And since I was convinced that colours reflected the personality of a person I decided to check out the colours of the others later. But now there was something else on my mind.

"By the way, next to my handbook was a chocolate bar," I said. "Does anyone want to have it?"

"I would take it." Everyone stared at Jason who normally was so quiet and mousy that it was a real surprise to have him say something. Now the boy ducked his head and stammered "I...I j-just r-really like chocolate...A-and if you really don't w-want it..." "It's fine," I reassured him with a smile. "I think it's a Snickers and I'm allergic to peanuts so I should better keep my hands off it."

"Probably it's poisoned anyway," Vivienne said, fanning herself and completely ruining the mood. "I don't think that Monokuma would poison our food," Daichi replied in his usual calm manner. "He doesn't want to kill us – he wants us to kill." Everyone went silent after this – suddenly we were reminded of the situation we were in.

And just then someone coughed. We all looked to the door and saw Aviana standing in the frame. She seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable, being the centre of attention, but she spoke without stammering and for the first time I heard her voice. "Sorry that I am late. The door is unlocked! I went downstairs to take a look and I found that we can go outside... so I went exploring a bit."

"Great news!" Alice beamed and everyone else seemed to be as enthusiastic as well. Maybe it had been a joke after all, now we could go outside and take a look if we could find help from outside! Everyone quickly left the dining hall and I noticed some people already forming groups while others stayed by themselves. I approached Daichi. "Do you mind exploring together?"

His face was as expressionless as always. _There needs to be a reason why he is always acting like this..._ "No," he simply replied and we went together outside. It felt great leaving the house – the sun was shining and I could hear some birds chirping. I looked back and saw big letters being paintedon the roof of our house: 'Kuma's hostel'. There were little streets nearby and normal houses, some even with little gardens. It looked exactly like a completely ordinary English town house complex.

As we walked around I quickly noticed that the streets were completely empty – no cars, no people, not even cats or dogs. Some of the houses were locked, some we could enter. It looked like people had actually lived here but now they were obviously abandoned. And of course none of the phones we tried had a connection. I wasn't really surprised about this nor was Daichi. We continued to walk along the big street until we reached something that looked like giant bars. The rest of the village was behind these bars, out of reach for us.

"You could try climbing," Daichi suggested. I didn't think that it would be so easy plus the bars looked like it would be very difficult to climb them. But why not give it a try? I touched one of the bars and the next moment I was hit by an electric shock that sent me down to the ground.

"It's charged up, I thought so... " Daichi wrote something down before he casually asked "You're still alive, are you? Your hair looks a bit messy." I blinked. "Thank you for your concern."

While I struggled to get up Monokuma suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Ha-hahaha!" "What do you want?" Daichi asked and the stuffed toy tilted his head. "Such a cold greeting. I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn't touch the bars. The village behind them is nothing for little first-formers like you! If you want to go there you need to graduate aaaand kill someone! Hooray!" And with that he just disappeared again.

"I guess these bars are everywhere," Daichi said. "We should probably go back." "Good idea," I replied, still feeling a bit dizzy.

After some time everyone gathered in the dining hall again. The hope from before was gone again, everyone knew that we couldn't escape these bars. Alice at least tried to stay optimistic. "We should probably talk about what we found." Ammy tried a smile. "I found a bakery. Looks like we can get fresh bread there." "Oh, great," Vivienne scoffed. "Who cares about being trapped? At least we can stuff ourselves with bread!"

"We searched the houses," Akira quickly said. "But we found not a single computer or any other helpful electronic device." "Yes and the houses look like they were built during the 1930s," Marilyn added. Panini looked at her wide-eyed. "Does that mean we made a time-travel?!" Tani rolled her eyes as if that was too much stupidity for her. "You really are dumb... This is just an old village." "Well, I'm sure I find a way to use our handbooks for something," Akira promised with a determination in his eyes, proving that he wouldn't give up easily.

"That's good," Alice said. "I'm afraid we have to wait a little longer until we can leave. These bars look pretty solid." "And they're charged up," I added. Vivienne snapped her fingers. "Why don't we let Amelia cast them away? She's a magician after all." Ammy frowned. "That's not how my talent works." Vivienne sneered. "Your talent appears to be pretty useless then."

Before they could get into a serious fight Alice stepped in. "Vivi, stop it. Fighting won't help us. Did anyone found something else what could help us?" No one answered and finally Sandrine softly said "I-I've seen many villages before. But this one is strange. I m-mean, I know there are no people here and that's strange but that's not everything...There is something else about this place..." "Whaddya mean?" Tani asked and Sandrine's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm s-sorry, I can't put it into words!" "Hey, it's okay," Alice quickly said to calm her again.

We decided that there was nothing more to discuss and everyone went their way. I should use the time and talk with someone. And Daichi was just the right choice for that since I still had something on my mind.

"Can we go for a walk?" I asked him and he followed me outside without a question. Soon we were alone and I asked jokingly "You aren't afraid I could kill you now?" Daichi's face remained expressionless. "Not really. You don't appear to be someone who would just kill somebody. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand naivete, so I won't just trust you. But even if you would try to kill me I wouldn't mind. It's interesting to study people who are willing to murder. Our society considers murder to be a crime and yet it happens again and again – there are so many motives for it. Studying a murderer's mind is fascinating, don't you think?"

I laughed insecurely. "Sure, if you say so." Daichi nodded seriously. "People often call murderer insane but we know that this isn't right. There are murderer who are just ordinary people under circumstances which force them to crime. But I'm more interested in those who are indeed insane. Well, I will use our stay for some studies and I don't intend on dying." I had to admit that I was a bit impressed on his self-confidence. He really didn't seem to be afraid of this situation.

"What about you?" he asked me with this scrutinising look. "Why aren't you afraid?" I smiled. "You aren't a person who would kill someone in such a rush manner. You would make plans before. And I guess you share one reason with me for not killing someone. You're interested in who will snap first."

He didn't reply, just wrote something down in his journal. It still fascinated me that we shared the same habit. I waited until he was finished before I said what I had on my mind. "Look, apparently we both share the same talent. And I don't want that to be a problem. I don't want this 'There can only be one'. We should rely on each other instead." With this I offered him a hand and after a moment of thinking he shook it.

"May I ask why you're wearing gloves?" I asked then. "It's quite warm, isn't it?" "Why is it so important for you that there's no rivalry between us?" he asked back.

"Isn't it nice to make friends?" I gave him a surprised smile.

"Then why do you want to be friends with me? I wonder why someone who likes to make friends so much is interested in psychology and the abysses of the human mind."

"How about this?" I offered. "My backstory for yours."

"Sounds fair. We should probably talk about it one time. But for now I have other cases waiting for me." And with his ever so emotionless expression he walked back to 'Kuma's hostel'.

 _Cases, huh? I wonder if they will turn into friends some day..._

 **I'm not really happy about this chapter but anyway, thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review and don't forget to vote for the rest of the Free Time Events!**


	7. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter V

**FireDusk, CGStrykerz, TechniqueFantasy and WendyDokuro: Thanks a lot for your nice reviews! I always love hearing your thoughts!**

 **Now then, this chapter is shorter than the others but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.**

After Daichi had left I decided to wander around some more and look for someone else I could spent time with. As I made my way back to Kuma's hostel I passed one of the houses and nearly crashed into Tokaku who left it this moment.

Spending time with this intriguing girl seemed to be a great choice – there were so many things about her which caught my attention. She obviously had a great liking for dark clothes and dark make-up but her personality seemed to be more bright and cheery. She successfully attempted to look attractive but every time one of the boys acted flirty towards her (and Hachiku and Ari did that a lot of time – I knew them for one day now and could already tell that) she totally ignored it. And then there was this captivating eye which made it hard to look away.

Determined to get to know her a bit better I asked if she would like to drink a tea with me. To my joy she returned my smile and answered "Sure. I was looking for some company anyway."

I had no idea what the others were doing but we had the kitchen for ourselves. "Hypnosis appears to be a pretty useful talent," I started the conversation once we had our tea. "Sure it is," she winked at me. "Especially when you want to impress somebody. Maybe you won't believe it but I had a fan-club following me whenever I was on tour. That was pretty funny."

"I had no idea I was drinking tea with a celebrity," I admitted and my impressed tone of voice made her grin. "That's okay, my fans are mostly female anyway." I was honestly surprised about that but decided to ask "Why did you stop going on tour?" She shrugged. "I thought it was nicer to give private performances instead. I still have a lot of fans so I don't regret it. And you know what's really awesome? If someone annoys me too much I can get rid off him pretty easily. Just by saying things like 'Look me in the eye' and when I then start murmuring strange things they run like rabbits, afraid that I could actually put a spell on them." She laughed. _I'm sure I would have fallen for that,_ _too_ _._ _.._

"But you can make people do things when you hypnotise them?" I asked and she grinned proudly. "Of course! I'm the best Hypnotist after all!" "Could you actually make someone fall in love with you?" I asked, seriously curious about that and she shook her head. "No, that's not how it works." And with a wink she added "So, if you fall for me it's just because of my good looks. But let me warn you, I'm not interested in guys."

 _Some people will be so disappointed about this_ , I thought. Tokaku emptied her cup and proclaimed "So you better tell me now if any of the pretty ladies here caught your eye, I have to know if you're a rival or not."

"Well, since you're no option I don't know," I replied, not sure myself if I was joking or not. Tokaku wiped a strand of her black hair out of her pretty face and chuckled. "How charming. I think I might go easy on you when you snap away my girl."

It was actually pretty easy to have a conversation with Tokaku. She was so cheerful, always coming up with a story to tell, almost making me forget about the situation we were in. It was truly a pity she wasn't interested in the opposite gender.

Eventually the monitor on the wall went on, showing the same picture of Monokuma as in the morning. "It's 10 p.m. now!" he proclaimed, letting us know that we should better return to our rooms. "Night time! Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite you!"

It was really fascinating that the first day was already over. We still didn't know what was the reason for all this or how we should escape from here but it was nice to think that we weren't alone in this situation. Thinking about the new people I met I finally fell asleep.

"Good morning, everyone! It is 8 a.m. now and everyone is ready for another wonderful school day in our great village!"

This day I was at the breakfast in time and happily I noticed that everyone else was there as well. Alice apparently had something on his mind and everyone turned silent when he started to speak. "Listen, guys, I thought it would be nice if we would share more meals with each other. I don't know how you did dinner yesterday but wouldn't it be nicer if we would have it together?"

"That could be fun, yes," Tokaku agreed and Alice continued "You know, some of us have to cook then." No one seemed to be enthusiastic about that and Alice gave us an encouraging smile. "Food won't fall into our lap – someone has to do it."

"Excellent idea!" Suddenly Monokuma appeared on the monitor which was installed in the dining room. "More responsibility for you lazy little ones. We'll have a tournament! May the best cook win!" I had the feeling Monokuma was much too excited about this.

Tani stood up. "That's ridiculous. I leave." "Oh no, you won't!" Monokuma growled. "Your leader had a great idea and you will follow it through!" "Leader?" Tani asked with a frown and the next moment Monokuma came marching through the door. He wore something that looked just like Alice's uniform and had a little timpani in front of him. With one of the drumsticks he gestured towards Alice. "Congratulations! You've just become leader, major." "W-what? I never..." Monokuma interrupted Alice by beating his timpani, making all of us flinch by the loud sound. "Everyone who doesn't show up for it gets executed!" Monokuma proclaimed and happily playing his drum he marched away. He definitely had too much fun with this.

"Great!" Tani said, glaring at Alice who looked totally miserable. "I'm sorry, guys, I didn't want that!" Marilyn reassuringly patted his back. "Don't worry about it, commander." Panini clapped her hands. "Yes! That will be fun!" The others didn't seem so convinced by this but I agreed with Panini, working together was always interesting. And this 'tournament' was a great opportunity to learn more about the others.

We had finished our breakfast and I decided to spend some time with Panini enjoying her good mood in this situation. "Wanna help me with my art?" she asked me and I agreed, making her leap for joy. Apparently she had already turned the atelier into her personal workshop with canvas and palettes, water containers and paint tubes laying around. Panini quickly dragged me to a chair, before putting on her apron to keep her white blouse safe from colour spots. "Thanks for letting me paint you," she said. "I love doing that! And I wanted to try something new, so here we go!" She giggled and the next moment she whipped a paint brush out and started mixing colours on a palette.

I kept my position and watched her work. It was obvious how much she loved her talent with all the colourful spots on her apron and cheeks and this spark in her blue eyes. Still I wanted to ask something "You're the Ultimate Artist, right? Do you like other art as well or is it just painting?"

"Oh, painting is my specialty," she replied. "It's simply what I love to do. I want to become a great artist, you know? Like really great and famous! I want people to see my paintings and say 'Oh, that's from Panini Chao – that brush stroke is unique!' I mean, having people looking at the paintings you painted even long after your death, isn't that just great?" I think no one else had used the word 'death' in a situation like this but Panini seemed to be too cheery to notice that. "I want to be like Leonardo Da Vinci! He's still remembered after...um, a very long time!"

"So Da Vinci is a role model for you?" I asked and she smiled. "Maybe a bit. I have my own style and all but I still adore his works. When I still lived in Italy I once visited an art museum with school and there I saw a painting of the Mona Lisa. It was so very beautiful!"

"You lived in Italy?" I asked curiously. She surely sounded more like an American but nodded now. "Sure, I was born in Italy and grew up there. My father's American, my mother's Italian, so later we moved back to the USA. And now I'm here!" She smiled and dramatically twirled her paint brush around. "Done!" _Wow, she's really fast!_

She showed me the portrait she made and asked "You like it?" I was speechless. The painting looked just me although in a very pale way. My usual dark blonde hair was almost white here and my face had lost so much colour that I wondered if she used anything but white and light grey for it. And still it looked exactly like my face. I hadn't known that someone could paint so perfectly. "It is great," I said honestly and she beamed at me. "Yay! I hoped you like it!"

"I do. Just why is it so pale?"

She looked at me conspiratorially and whispered "Because pale colours are my favourites. And this is something new I'm trying – painting people in pale." She giggled. "Oh, that sounds nice!"

She showed me some more paintings she had done before, all of them of a fascinating beauty and with a lot of details that made them look very lively. Then finally it was time to return to the kitchen and see what Monokuma wanted us to do now.

 **And so we had two more FTEs. Reviews would make me very happy! And the poll is still open!  
**


	8. Cooking special

**Thanks a lot for the reviews!**

 **FireDusk: Sorry, no motives yet xD**

 **RubyLeo: I'm so glad you liked Nini's FTE! Let's see how it will turn out for them. ;)**

 **Monokuma: Sorry, it takes a bit with the murders. For the sake of despair I want to make the characters interact more with each other before the killing begins.**

 **Guest: I'm thinking of the executions myself.**

 **TechniqueFantasy: Now, that's an interesting guess! :)**

 **I am sorry that this chapter took a bit longer, my computer decided to have a break down and it just got fixed.**

 **Also, this chapter is not really relevant for the plot but it shows more of all of your wonderful characters and I thought that would be nice as long as they all are still alive.**

 **Now, let's cheer for them and see which group does the best work! ~**

We were forced to form groups of three.

Apparently Monokuma liked the idea of us cooking together and 'experiencing the thrill of competition'. I didn't know why he had so much fun with this but we all understood that it was better for our health to play along.

Somehow indecisive we were all standing together in the kitchen and although Monokuma's orders had been quite clear no one was really sure what to do. Finally Tokaku stepped forward and asked "Avi, would you like to form a group with me?" The small Explorer girl looked up in surprise but nodded happily and so all of us started to form groups.

Reece and I got together as if we were old friends and he dared to ask Vivienne to join us. For a second I was sure her eyes lit up, happy that someone asked her, but then she fanned herself again with this smug expression on her face and replied "It is beneath my dignity to work with shabby plebs like you but I think I will be gracious today." She honoured us with a condescending nod and sat down on a chair, elegantly crossing her legs. The fact that she didn't even take off her clean white gloves made clear that she didn't intend to do any work.

I suppressed a sigh. I didn't like cooking, I didn't like kitchens in general. But Vivienne didn't look much like a help and I guessed that Reece wasn't either, judging his expression. He looked at all the ingredients as if he had never seen any of these before. This could only get bad...

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Hachiku had joined Tokaku and Aviana, smiling suavely at both of them. "What could be greater than forming a group with two beauties?" Aviana blushed a bit at this while Tokaku said with an apologising smile "Sorry, to disappoint you but I'm not into guys. But I agree that Avi is a cutie."

The small girl blushed even more now, not sure where to look.

Hachiku frowned a bit at this coming out but then shrugged and said "I wouldn't mind seeing you two making out with each other."

Aviana cleared her throat and asked "Maybe we should focus on cooking something?" She was content with her partners but she had no idea how to react to their constant flirting…

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Sandrine bit her lip as she looked at all the kitchen utensils. Alice suppressed a sigh and asked "What's wrong?" "I...I really dislike cooking," the nervous girl admitted. "Don't worry about it. When we work together this can be fun." He gave his best to encourage his partner. She was a bit like a fledgling, clinging to the first person she had seen here. Alice hadn't seen her talking to anyone else here and he didn't want her to be left alone so he immediately offered to form a group with her. Marilyn had joined them quickly and now she raised her hands in excitement. "Indeed, this will be so much fun! Come on, guys, we have a battle to win!"

"You know it's just a fun competition, right?" Alice asked as the Historian seemed to be a bit over-enthusiastic about this. She grinned, her green eyes sparkling. "Hah! We will make a meal that will go down in history!"

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"Hey, don't ya wanna join us?" Ari grinned at her and Tani immediately wanted to flee. Damn this Monokuma, it was his fault she was forced to work together with these people!

Amelia smiled at her. "Come on, Tani, helping us won't hurt you." Tani sighed and nodded. "Fine." That still didn't mean that she had to talk a lot with them.

Ari switched on his lighter, the flame dancing only millimetres away from his face. "We will win this!" he said determined. "With our combined power we can easily defeat them all!" "It's just cooking." Tani rolled her eyes, making him grin widely. "Nah, it's a competition after all! And we'll win this! We'll be hot!" "And magical!" Amelia added.

Ari snapped his fingers. "Our food will burn them away!" Amelia clenched her fists enthusiastically. "It will enchant them!"

Both of them were looking at Tani as if they were expecting her to say something stupid as well. Oh why did she have to do this?!

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Jason wasn't really sure what to do. He ended up being together with Artyom and Daichi, a situation he wasn't really comfortable with. The Japanese boy looked at him as if he wanted to delve into his soul while the Russian slowly searched a drawer, lining up all the knives next to each other. Finally Daichi turned his gaze away and looked at the knives instead. "I guess you know how to handle all of them," he said to Artyom as if he was talking about the weather. "Which one would you choose to kill?"

Quickly Artyom grabbed one and in one single movement he spun around, the point almost reaching the soft skin of Jason's throat, making the boy gulp. "This one," Artyom replied and Daichi quickly wrote something down.

"Um, c-could y-you p-please s-stop it?" Jason asked, his heart pounding wildly. Artyom put the knife down. "Sure, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Man, I wished Monokuma was here now." "W-why?" Jason managed to ask and Artyom smiled at him. "Well, I like to hunt down my meat myself."

Jason blinked and needed a moment to realise that it had been just a joke.

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Panini crouched in front of Akira, smiling at him. "So, it's us two. That will be fun!" She loved playing with children and Akira really was a cute little boy. Although he often appeared so dreamy as if he wouldn't really notice what was going on around him. Maybe he was a bit slow? Panini knew that she was that sometimes so she could empathise with the boy.

She was proud to give some good advice to him. "You can help me but you need to be careful, okay? Don't touch anything sharp and don't touch the cook-top." Akira slowly looked at her with some confusion in his blue eyes. "Thanks for your concern but you don't need to tell me that."

Panini giggled over his cuteness. "Okay, then let's do this! Let's beat this dumb-dumbs!"

Akira smiled softly. "You know, you're more a child than I am."

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"I bet you will burn them." Reece's eye twitched at this comment and I could feel nervousness building up in my stomach. It was obvious that Vivienne loved to watch us work while acting high and mighty and criticising our results.

Before we even started to do anything she had told us how she once talked in her Show about the bad British cuisine. "Everyone knows the British can't cook," she had told us as if she wanted to anger us. "In this case you should do it for us," Reece had said, making her smile patronisingly. "But then you would never learn it. And you don't really expect a lady to soil her hands, do you?"

Before Reece could have told her how he imagined a lady to behave I had suggested "We could make crêpes." They shouldn't be difficult to make and Vivienne couldn't criticise them. My partners had actually accepted this and the next half-hour Reece and I had been looking for the right ingredients. There was literally everything to eat in the store room of the kitchen but in such a disorder that it was difficult to find the right things.

Finally we had milk, butter, eggs and flour in front of us and just then we had realised that we didn't know how much we needed of each. But having Vivienne watching us we didn't dare to show any hesitation. And now that we had mixed some batter we were ready to bake it.

Vivienne's comment actually made me feel more uncomfortable than I had expected. It created a picture in my head, of a pan on flames. I would have loved to stop now but of course no one could eat mere batter.

Reece now turned around. "You know, it would be much more helpful if you'd lend us a head instead of making fun of us."

Vivienne rose an eyebrow. "Oh? You dare to talk to me like this, you runt?"

With her high-heel boots she was as tall as me but even without them she would be taller than Reece. And just as I had expected he looked insulted now so I quickly stepped between the two of them. "Let's calm down, alright?"

Reece angrily thumped the pan on the cooker and switched it on, before throwing some butter into the pan, the spluttering sound making me flinch. For a while we just watched Reece baking the crêpes, then Vivienne said "You forgot the salt." Her fan hid her smile but I could see her eyes sparkling in amusement.

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"You women should better do the cooking," Hachiku said, leaning back. "That's a woman's job anyway." Tokaku just rolled her eyes and then asked "I don't know how typical meals in Australia look, so do you mind eating something Japanese?"

Aviana shook her head vigorously, her eyes lighting up. "Not at all! I would love eating something of a different culture!"

Tokaku smiled. "Great. I already have an idea, let's see if we find the ingredients." The store room was huge but Aviana had always had a talent for finding things easily and so they returned so quickly that Hachiku looked surprised. Tokaku started with cooking some rice while Aviana did the slicing of the spring onions and the meat. When the other girl didn't notice it Aviana looked at her. With her in a dark way sensual look Tokaku seemed totally out of place in a kitchen. Yet she was humming happily while she took care of the sauce and smiled cheerfully at Aviana, making her blush slightly.

"Open your mouth," Tokaku said with a smile, offering a spoon to Aviana. The hot sauce almost burnt Aviana's tongue but it actually tasted quite good and she loved the somehow exotique taste. The girls started putting the meat and the onions into the sauce and Aviana had to admit that this cooking was actually quite funny. Once they were finished she dared to offer Hachiku a spoon as well. "Would you like to try it?" she asked and he smiled at her, their fingers touching a bit longer than necessary when he took the spoon out of her hand. "If the food is as nice as your smile, it must be delicious," he said.

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Marilyn had found some aprons and while she wore hers as if it was a uniform Alice felt a bit stupid in his, especially because it was stained with indefinable spots. Sandrine got the only clean one since he tried to make the nervous girl feel as comfortable as possible.

"What food do you like?" he asked her. "You must have seen so many places, which food do you prefer?" Sandrine looked at him wide-eyed, probably thinking that this was a trick question and just shrugged.

"Maybe we should start with a salad then," Alice suggested but Marilyn waved the idea away. "No, I hate salads. I have a better idea. How about a soup?"

"Alright, what kind of soup?" Alice asked and the Historian smiled widely. "That's the thing. We can do anything we want into it – meat, vegetables, fruits! The important thing is that we find some good stock for our soup." She pointed at the store room with a serious expression. "Sergeant, you know your order! Go inside and bring us this stock! We will give you covering fire!"

She looked as if she was expecting an army of Monokumas approaching and Alice quickly went over to the store room. He didn't only find the stock Marilyn wanted but also fine ingredients and a lot of spices.

The next minutes they spend with slicing and cooking while Sandrine sat next to them and looked a bit happier since she didn't get forced to cook.

Finally Alice ended up stirring the soup and spicing it while Marilyn marched up and down and sometimes asked questions like "How is it going, sergeant?" Alice took a sip and smiled. "Very well, sir." Marilyn nodded contentedly. "Very good. As you were!"

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They finally had decided for a stir-fry meal although Tani was sure that none of her partners had a real idea how to make it. Tani would have liked to have some fish but the others considered that as boring and in the end they decided to throw some vegetables into a pan and fry that all.

Silently Tani chopped up vegetables while the others were debating about the special something they wanted to add to their meal. Tani tensed immediately when Ari laid his hands on hers, standing right next to her, and said "Careful. Don't cut yourself." "Take your hands off," she snapped, making him smile innocently at her. "Why so edgy, sweetheart? I just wanted to make sure you're being careful."

"Keep pestering me and I'll show ya how good I'm at gutting!" He didn't look very impressed but finally took a step away. "Well, what should we do about the food then?"

"The food isn't the most important thing," Amelia piped up. "It is the way we present it." Ari nodded. "Yeah, let's do something special. Let's make something explode!"

"Oh, I know, I know." Amelia fished something out of her jacket and the next moment there was a loud bang and smoke filled the area, making all three of them cough. "Idiot!" Tani panted. "You wanna kill us?!"

"It actually should cover us," Amelia replied apologetically. Ari looked at the Magician with a new interest in his eyes. "That's a great idea! We can make a fire show out of this! When we combine our tricks we can make the best possible!"

Tani could only sigh.

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They didn't even speak about what they wanted to make – Artyom was just doing. He had been a bit disappointed that he hadn't found venison inside the store room but at least there was a huge refrigerator with all kinds of other meat inside.

Jason would have liked to ask what kind of meal this should be in the end but since Artyom was constantly working with some knives near him, Jason didn't dare. And as it was to be expected of the Ultimate Sidekick he gave his best to assist the other boy with handing him ingredients he needed or chipping something.

Daichi wasn't much of a help here. It wasn't like he refused to work and if Artyom asked something of him he did it but besides this he let the others do the work and rather did his studies. Jason could barely focus on the meat in front of him with Daichi asking him questions all the time. Even just the sound of the pen scratching on the paper made him nervous.

He should have been relieved when Daichi turned his attention to Artyom instead but having both of them talking about hunting wasn't so nice either.

"So, this is the bear I'm hunting," Artyom explained, taking a piece of meat and sliding it over the table top. "And this is me." He took a knife, making it sneak around the piece of meat. Jason looked nervously at the pan on the cooker, the meat inside it was slowly turning black. "Um, g-guys?" he asked but Artyom interrupted him. "Psst! I need to concentrate! This time I get this brute!"

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Akira looked thoughtfully at his handbook. "If I could manage to hack it, I could maybe get access to the Internet," he said. "And then we could look for a recipe there."

Panini shook her head. "That could be dangerous. But don't worry, Big Sis Nini has just the right idea! I know a recipe of my mother." She was proud that she had memorised it, it shouldn't even be difficult to make. They just needed to cook spaghetti and make this special sauce Panini remembered.

She was happily stirring the pasta when she noticed that Akira was mumbling something to himself. Curiously she asked "With who are you talking?" "My buddy inside my head," Akira replied, completely serious about it. "Ohh, what is he talking about?" Excitedly Panini swung the wooden spoon she had been holding, throwing spaghetti in every direction. A bunch hit a small milk carton, knocking it over. Panini giggled a bit embarrassed over the mess she made.

Akira wiped off a single spaghetti which had landed on his shoulder and said "He actually said that you're a good cooking partner. But now he says that you're a possible danger."

Panini just giggled about the last sentence and patted Akira's head. "Thanks a lot, little one inside there!" she shouted, making the boy flinch a bit. "And now it's time for the best part," Panini proclaimed, already a paint brush, a piece of paper and some paints in her hands. "That will be a nice picture!" The next moment the water inside the pot boiled over.

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Finally we should all present our results to each other. Of course no one was eager to try the sad mess we've made. Vivienne had won her bet, the batter turned black quicker than expected and to cover it up Vivienne had signed them with hot pink food dye she had found. We should probably be thankful that she had decided to do something as well.

I ignored the burnt chunks on our plate and curiously looked at what our classmates had done.

Tokaku, Hachiku and Aviana apparently had decided to make something with rice, chicken and a still fuming sauce. I had the feeling that everyone liked it and it was nice to see how everyone seemed to get along when they had something to eat.

The group of Alice, Marilyn and Sandrine presented a soup which also looked quite good. But as soon as we tried a spoonful almost everyone had the same disgusted expression on his face. It was so spicy, I had problems to breathe. Ammy coughed with tears in her eyes and panted "Bloody hell – don't make me try this ever again!"

That made Sandrine tear up once more but Marilyn quickly hugged her. "Hey, don't get upset about it – it had been a lot of fun anyway!" Alice scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry, maybe I put too much spice into it."

Ari had been the only one actually eating it. "Well, I like it." Then he suddenly tensed, looking at Alice with narrowed eyes. "You're in for a competition, mate? You wanna see who can eat more hot food? Hah, I'll beat ya!" It was rare to see Ari loose his laid-back attitude and Alice quickly replied "No thanks, man."

It turned out that the group of Ari, Ammy and Tani had nothing to present. Their reports were a bit weird, something with explosions and how their stir-fry meal eventually had burnt down. At least that explained the soot stains on their clothes. While Ari and Ammy had a sparkle in their eyes, Tani seemed to be more annoyed than usual. I could imagine how their cooperation had looked like.

The group of Daichi, Artyom and Jason offered plates with meat which actually was pretty good. Despite the fact that they had only meat and nothing else.

Panini and Akira finally had some clumpy spaghetti with a way-too-thick-looking sauce of a suspicious colour. Panini showed us a beautiful painting she made of her pasta and proudly asked "We're getting bonus points for that, right?" "We can't eat your pictures, so no," Vivienne rejected her scoffing.

And thus Tokaku, Hachiku and Aviana won the competition. None of them looked like they would usually spend time inside of kitchens. Still they looked happy about their win and since Aviana was usually so shy and quiet it was nice to see that she got along well with her partners. And I was just glad we didn't win...

 **I have no idea why I started to write about cooking... Anyway, as always I would love to hear your opinion!**


	9. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter VI

**Thanks a lot to all of you for your nice reviews! I really love hearing your opinions! And I am so glad you liked the special and that I can write this story!**

 **The next chapter is a shorter one but now the plot goes on.**

 **FireDusk: Yes, I thought Daichi would definitely make the others do the work. Though in a way more subtle way than Vivi. And with the motives – you still have to be patient. ;)**

 **WendyDokuro: At least they can eat bread, so they probably won't starve. Glad you liked it and also Aviana's portrayal. And for Lewis, he just doesn't want to cook and was glad someone else would do it. ;)**

If it was possible to say that in our situation, life had settled down a bit. We had Tokaku and Aviana cook for us (Hachiku claimed that that wasn't manly enough for him) and since they had taken on that job we others took on other tasks like cleaning. At the moment everything looked like we would be a somehow weird and often complicated community but I doubted that the others wanted to live like this forever. I guessed that everyone was simply waiting for whatever would happen.

Every morning we had our breakfast together and I noticed that there was already an order in which my class mates appeared.

I was always quite early but never the first one to arrive. Daichi was always already waiting there for me, as well as Ammy who mostly practised for a trick and greeted me enthusiastically. Most of the times Alice, Sandrine and Artyom were there as well.

Shortly after me Akira came in, looking extremely tired which made me wonder if he was sleeping at all. Next Jason sneaked in and then Panini, Tokaku and Tani appeared, not always in the same order but mostly at this time. Aviana and Hachiku entered a bit after them since they had started to go jogging in the morning. Vivienne liked to spread the rumour that they were going together but I wasn't sure if I could believe her.

Reece was even later and then, when everyone was almost finished with breakfast Vivienne appeared, obviously trying to get attention for that. Mostly she entered the room with banging the door so no one could miss her entrance.

Only Ari was later. As he had said he was no morning person at all and he didn't seem to care that others were waiting for him.

Finally Marilyn was completely unpredictable, sometimes she was already happily greeting me when I arrived, sometimes she shuffled into the room after everyone else.

We were still looking for something that would help us to get out of here and today we decided to try to watch TV together. If it wasn't broken we could maybe see the news from outside, maybe there would be reports about our disappearance.

Once again we all gathered in the living room and everyone hold their breath as Alice switched on the TV. It looked as if there was some kind of action movie with a typical car chase. Despite that every car was driven by a Monokuma. We changed the channel and could see Monokuma with a deerstalker and a pipe. Switch. Monokuma with a pretty stupid looking wig was playing drums. Switch. A bunch of little Monokumas were sitting in a circle and singing some songs about gummy bears. Switch. A scantily dressed Monokuma with thick make-up was pole-dancing. Here Panini covered Akira's eyes and Tani said disgustedly "Just stop this rubbish!"

Just then Alice switched once more and apparently he got a news-channel this time. But our hope was crushed the next moment as there was only Monokuma. "The next days the weather will stay warm and sunny. Monokuma won the price as the most attractive mascot of the world the thirtieth time in a row! Everyone's still wondering who will be the first victim in Hope's Peak Village. But we can tell you this, dear audience, there will be a murder soon." And with that the monitor went black once more.

We could feel the eerie mood creeping up on us and Marilyn quickly jumped to her feet. "Looks like we can't use the TV. Anyway, we will find another way. They can't keep us here forever!"

She was probably right about that. We should better go on as before.

Today I decided to spend some time with Ammy. She had gone outside, kneeling in the dirt next to the hostel and looking at some dirt in her hands. "Hello, Ammy," I greeted her. "What are you doing here?" "I'm checking the earth here," she explained happily. "It should be suitable for planting some flowers. It would be nice to have a little garden here, wouldn't it?"

"Sure," I replied. "I hadn't expected you to be a gardening person." She smiled. "I like to grow the flowers I need for my tricks myself. But hey – what is this?" She got to her feet and dramatically grabbed my hand with her left. "At your collar!" I looked down and could see a rose stuck between the collar and the tie. Ammy smiled at me. "Looks like you like flowers, too!"

I swear she hadn't touched me. "How did you do that?" I asked fascinated and she chuckled. "Hehe, it's magic of course." She let go of my hand and opened her own – just to show that the rose was now laying on her palm. "You are really good!" I complimented her and she bowed deeply. "Thank you, good sir."

"I wonder, how did you become a Magician?" I asked curiously and she shrugged. "My mother used to be a Magician and I adored that since I was little." Immediately I imagined a little Amelia with a way too big top hat. "Was she famous?" I asked. D'Lacey was quite a name and I didn't think that I have ever heard of a Magician with that name. Ammy seemed to understand what I was thinking about. "She is my step mother actually," she explained. "She used to call herself 'Magic Melody' but she wasn't really famous. Actually she quit being a Magician after marrying my father." Ammy looked like she couldn't understand that at all and I asked "Your father is not much of a Magic fan?" I suddenly remembered the first words Ammy had spoken when she woke up here. _"Did my father set this up?"_

Ammy sighed, looking a bit upset. "Not at all. He thinks it is ridiculous. He never really accepted my talent." "But you got accepted at England's greatest school for it," I tried to cheer her up again. "That means you possess a great talent." She nodded fiercely. "Indeed! Hey, I could show you something." She briefly dusted herself down before storming back towards the hostel.

I followed her to her room which was a complete mess. Pieces of paper, dishes, clothing, it was all just laying around in chaos but Ammy didn't seem to mind it. She opened the drawer of her bedside cabinet and got a photo out of it. "I always carry it around with me," she explained. "It's good that I still have it."

The photo showed a younger Ammy, indeed a very cute little girl with unruly black hair and sparkling eyes, holding something that looked like a wand. Next to her stood a somehow strict looking man, his hand resting on the shoulder of a pretty woman with a baby boy in her arms. Her family.

"Don't you miss them?" I asked and she smiled. "Hey, don't make it sound like I would never see them again. We will find a way out of here and then I'll prove them what a great Magician I am. I just had a brilliant idea for another trick!" She smiled mysteriously and then asked "Would you fancy to help me with the garden some other time?"

"Sure," I replied, enjoying her happy beam.

This evening our cooks had thought of something special to cheer us up after our lack of success with the TV and they managed it to make pudding. It was a really nice idea of them and I decided to keep my portion until the night. "Don't you dare to not eat it!" Tokaku said to me. "Avi put so much effort into it." "I promise," I said.

And forgot about it until Monokuma's informed us about the beginning of night time. At least now I would have the kitchen all for myself and to be honest I was curious if I would get punished for not being in my room this late.

As I walked along the floor I could see the cameras following me but no Monokuma came jumping out, screaming at me for breaking a rule. I was almost disappointed when I made it to the kitchen unharmed. The others had left really something for me which either meant that they were nice or that the pudding sucked.

I tried it and the taste made me smile. I knew this taste very well and it was absolutely not common for a pudding which should have had a chocolate flavour. Well, it shouldn't have been too difficult to find that in a big store room like this kitchen had. I searched the next cupboard and my smile widened when I found what I was looking for: an opened can of peanuts.


	10. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter VII

**Thanks for the reviews, guys!**

 **Reapergenesis32: You remembered that! That's great! ;)**

 **WendyDokuro: In that case Tokaku would be the killer, since she had the murderous intent and the other would be a mere tool. Probably. ^^**

"Good morning, everyone! It is 8 a.m. now and everyone is ready for another wonderful school day in our great village!"

This morning I just stayed in my room and waited. It was terribly boring just sitting there and watching the clock tick the time away but after my discovery from yesterday I quickly made a plan. Finally I heard an almost shy knocking on the door and a voice called "Lewis? You're alright?" _Panini. Interesting._

I quickly opened the door and indeed it was the painter standing in front of me. Her somehow worried expression turned into an honest beam when she saw me unharmed. "Good morning," she said. "We were wondering why you weren't coming." "Sorry," I said and returned the smile. Apparently that was enough for her and she was happily talking about something when we went to the dining room together. But of course Panini was innocent.

Once we entered I apologised again and watched the reactions of my class mates carefully. Everyone was staring at me except for Daichi (who was writing something down in his journal), Hachiku (who looked like he couldn't care less) and Vivienne (who hid her face behind her fan).

"Where have you been?" Alice asked with a slight frown. "We had been worried." I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why had you been worried? Did you think I had been killed?" Alice bit his lip. "N-no." "But you could have been ill!" Ammy claimed. _Is that a guilty conscience?_ No, she seemed to be honest.

I looked at Tokaku. "I have a question for you. Did you put any peanuts into your dessert yesterday?" There was true surprise in her eye. "Of course not! That would have ruined the taste completely!" _As I thought._

"Then someone else must have added them later on," I said and slowly the others seemed to understand. Panini looked confused. "Why should someone do that?" she asked with her left hand's pointer finger at the edge of her lips and her right hand grabbing her left elbow. It looked like she was thinking hard about it. It was Jason who told her, looking at some notes he must have made before. "Y-you're a-allergic t-to peanuts, r-right?" he asked. "I have told you that," I nodded.

Panini gasped. "Oh! Lewis, are you hurt now?!" "Obviously he's not, cretin," Vivienne said, looking at me with some curiosity in her eyes. "You said you have told us that? Is it not true then?"

"Why, of course not," I replied and Alice frowned once more. "Why would you lie about that?"

"It was a test," I explained. "If someone would actually grab the chance. Such an easy way to kill, right?"

The others were silent, yet they looked more shocked than guilty. Finally Artyom smiled. "So, someone tried to finish you off? Well, I had expected one of our Psychologists to be the first victim anyway." "I thought so, too," I agreed, giving him a smile. Daichi's face remained expressionless.

"Hey! Stop this talking!" Reece sounded angry. "No one will kill anyone! It...it must have been an accident or something."

Panini clapped her hands, interrupting the anxious silence. "I know, I know! We need something to cheer up! You should all come to the atelier this evening!" "I won't," Tani said, standing up. "Apparently it's dangerous with you guys." And before anyone could hold her back she left the room. Panini looked a bit disappointed and Tokaku kindly said "Well, I will come for sure." We others agreed on that and so it was settled.

For today I decided to spend some time with Jason. He was always so nervous and stayed in the background and I seriously wondered why this was the case. No one had seen him outside or wandering through the hostel plus my handbook told me that his was inside his room. I knocked at the door and Jason opened it, observing me nervously.

"Hello," I said. "May I come in?" Jason hesitated for a really long time. I kept smiling. Finally he nodded and stepped back to let me in.

Compared to Ammy's room his one was much cleaner. Still I could see some notebooks laying around. Jason stayed on the alert and it surprised me once more that a huge guy like him would be so nervous. I didn't close the door, so he could see an exit all the time.

"You're not afraid of me, are you?" I asked, a bit amused of this thought, and he looked really uncomfortable now. "I-I j-just thought i-it, it w-would be safer i-if the-there w-wouldn't be j-just the t-two of u-us h-here." "Well, I trust you that you won't try to kill me," I said clearly. "And I wouldn't either. So there is no need to be worried." I could just hope that this would calm him down, I really needed to get to know him better to understand what really troubled him.

We remained quiet for a moment and then Jason seemed to gather all his courage and asked "W-why did you lie to us?" His question surprised me since I had already explained it. "I told you, it was a test," I repeated patiently.

"B-but why, why w-would you w-want t-to test us?" Jason asked. "It's l-like you don't care about our feelings! T-to think that s-someone of u-us a-actually t-tried to..." I could see it in his eyes, he was a very trustworthy, honest person. Well, he had to be a person you want to have as a sidekick after all.

I played with the tip of my tie, a nervous habit of mine. "I am truly sorry," I said. "It wasn't my intention to make you guys feel bad. I always try testing people's psyche, must be because of my talent. Well, I should probably stop this here." And then I added "Though I have the feeling Daichi won't stop it." Jason looked like he was seriously wondering why of all things there had to be two Psychologists here. _It would be better for me, too, if there were two Sidekicks here._

"Anyway, I noticed you had done some notes before," I said and he nodded. "Y-yes. It h-helps me to re-remember things, so I c-can assist people better." "That's great!" I complimented him. "You really like to help people, don't you? I guess that is the reason why you became an Ultimate Sidekick?" He simply nodded but didn't say more about it. It didn't look like he wanted to talk about his talent. I needed to find something else he would like to talk about.

"So, what were you doing?" I asked and he took some steps back to lift up a comic from his armchair. "Reading," he explained, showing me one of these typical American superhero comic books. "Nice," I replied. "You like these?" Finally he nodded with some enthusiasm. "I always did!" I could only imagine how a little Jason was flipping through the comic pages, admiring the heroes of justice who he decided to be his role models. I hoped that some time he would tell me how he became the Ultimate Sidekick.

This evening we all gathered in the atelier, even Tani had come although it looked like Alice had dragged her into the room. Panini smiled at all of us and Vivienne asked impatiently "Well? Why are we here?"

"I thought it would be nice to paint all of you together!" Panini happily said. "Maybe you could all stand together?" "Oh, that's just silly!" Tani claimed but no one paid her attention. "I love the idea," Tokaku said, obviously enjoying Panini's happy smile. "But then you aren't in the picture!"

"Oh, that's no problem," Panini claimed, already with her paint brushes in hands. We didn't want to disturb her peaceful painting but to be honest it was quite boring just to stand around. As I looked around I could see that at least some of us were having fun. Ammy and Ari were whispering with each other, as well as Tokaku and Aviana, while Akira was playing with his handbook as if it was a Gameboy.

Sandrine was standing close to Alice with this typical frightened expression of hers and Vivienne decided to say something about this. "I was wondering what's wrong with you, Sandrine. Why are you always acting like a scared little chicken? You're the Ultimate Tourist so you must have money. I guess, you're still not as rich as my family is." (Here she chuckled a little.) "But you're still better than these plebs here. So why are you acting like this?"

Sandrine bit her lip and took a step backwards. "Hey, leave her alone," Ammy said, noticing how uncomfortable Sandrine felt. "Don't you see, she doesn't want to talk about it?" Vivienne sneered. "I haven't asked you for your opinion, you wannabe Magician."

"Excuse me?!" Now Ammy looked seriously angry. Quickly she grabbed Vivienne's fan out of the blonde girl's hands and said "Don't hide behind this thing when you're talking to me! Just what is your problem all the time?"

Vivienne glared at her. "Don't you dare touch my fan, you filthy whore!" "Whoa!" Reece gasped but Ammy reacted quicker than anyone else. She fetched a stick, much looking like a wand out of her jacket and pointed it threateningly at Vivienne who just sneered. "What? You want to put a spell on me?"

Ammy wielded her wand and the next moment a torrent of coloured water poured out of it, quickly soaking Vivienne's clothes and hair. Being dripping wet the girl just stood there and stared at Ammy as if she couldn't believe what just happened. Someone laughed. "Well, serves ya right," Tani commented. "And now stop acting like a bitch all the time, that's just annoying."

Vivienne's eyes suddenly filled with tears, without another word she grabbed her fan back and stormed out of the room. No one tried to hold her back.

"Geez, she is hard to handle," Alice said with a sigh. I could see that he didn't like the situation but also didn't want to spend more time with Vivienne's arrogance. Just then Panini looked up from her painting. "I'm done!" she proclaimed happily, apparently not having noticed what was going on. "Wanna see?"

Once we were dismissed from our meeting I went to Vivienne's room and softly knocked at her door. As she opened I could see that she really had cried. Her eyes were a bit red and her make-up was a little smudged. Plus her usually white clothes were still drenched. I honestly wondered how she managed to still look pretty. "What do you want, idiot?" she snapped. "Making fun of me, too?"

"I just wanted to see if you're alright," I replied and she narrowed her eyes. "Why? As if you would actually care!" "I do," I said. "It's safer for all of us if we are friends and you shouldn't be excluded." She crossed her arms. "So, you're saying I'm just like all these plebs? Nothing special?" I looked deep into her eyes. "Of course you are special. That's why I don't want to you to be so sad."

She quickly hid her face behind her fan again. I was worried she would tell me to get lost and mind my own business now but instead she turned around and said "You may come in, so be grateful."

I entered the room and softly closed the door behind me, grinning to myself. _This is going just perfect. Get them when they're wounded…_

 **This was the last chapter of everyone just living happily together, so rejoice or tremble! And don't forget to review. ;)**


	11. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter VIII

**Thank you five so much for the reviews! It's good that you're rejoicing, too.**

 **RubyLeo: That is a great idea with the painting! Too bad I already planned something else but I like your ideas. And if someone takes the fan from dead Vivienne her ghost would hunt them forever….**

 **WendyDokuro: Don't worry, who tried that will be cleared up later on!**

It was actually not that difficult to get along with Vivienne. She recovered quickly from her wounded pride and turned back to her usual smug behaviour. Being friendly and patient with her and appearing to be interested in whatever she had to say was enough to get her talking without insulting you. That made me come to the conclusion that she was used to disappointments but still liked to be together with people. Probably she actually was a nice girl which had been disappointed a lot in her life and now hid behind her arrogance.

Being nice to her when she was sad had been a good idea to get to know her better but now I had the feeling that she regarded me as her personal servant. Since she didn't want to see the others she refused to attend at breakfast the next morning and ordered me to bring her something.

This time Ammy wasn't there when I entered the dining room and the others could only shrug when I asked them about her. But we didn't have to worry for a long time. Suddenly there was a loud bang and smoke filled the room. Everyone was taking a quick step back but the next moment the smoke vanished again and Ammy and Ari suddenly stood in the room. The Magician laughed. "Hey, it worked!" Ari just smiled as laidback as always.

Apparently they had combined their talents, using Ari's knowledge about bombs to make a better magical appearance. _Looks like our peaceful times are over now._

I quickly excused myself and left again before they could destroy the room. Vivienne thanked me graciously that I brought her something. She had found new clothes since her old ones were still drenched, yet they looked exactly like the ones she wore before. It was a bit creepy how Monokuma even had prepared our clothing. The girl decided to take a shower and I left again, looking for someone else I could get to know better.

Finally I found Sandrine sitting all alone in the music room on one of the armchairs and writing something into a little book which rested on her lap. It was unusual to see her all alone, an opportunity I had to use. "Hello there," I said, making her squeak and shutting her book quickly. Almost as if she seeked for protection she hugged her book to herself and looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I quickly apologised. This wouldn't be easy, Sandrine was probably even more nervous than Jason. "Are you writing diary?" She nodded but bit her lip as if she expected me to laugh about her hobby. Instead I showed her my own notebook. It wasn't really a diary but still comparable and I wanted to show her that I liked her hobby. Still Sandrine tried to hide her little black and white book as if she was afraid I would force her to read from it. I should probably talk about something she was interested in.

"You must have seen a lot of places," I said, changing the topic. It would make her feel uneasy if I would be standing all the time and looking down on her so I sat down, yet not next to her so she still had free space. "Where have you been so far?"

"Everywhere in Europe," she answered quietly. "And in Asia. We also made some trips to Africa." "That sounds like a great childhood," I said and she didn't reply to that but clutched her book closer and suddenly looked a bit sad. Apparently something had happened she didn't like to talk about. "So, you're from a rich family?" I asked, being careful not to sound pejoratively. Sandrine looked down. "My parents won the lottery," she explained. "They always wanted to travel a lot and then they finally could do."

"Didn't you like it?" I asked and she shrugged a bit. "I like seeing the world," she finally said but nothing more. I had the feeling I should just go away again and leave her to herself but I really wanted to get to know her better. It was obvious she was carrying something around with herself.

So I asked "Isn't it like a trip here, too?" She kept looking down. "I miss my parents," she confessed, sounding a bit embarrassed about it. "And I don't like this place." That was understandable nevertheless I said reassuringly "Nothing bad will happen. I don't know how long this experiment will last but we all will soon get back home again. Don't worry about it."

I hoped that would cheer her up a bit and quickly changed to a happier topic. "Your English is so flawless, have you been in England for a long time?" She nodded. "For five months we traveled through the entire United Kingdom and through Ireland. ... I needed to learn a lot of languages since I still had to go to school, no matter which country we visited." That explained a lot.

"Since I can only speak English that sounds quite impressing," I replied. "Which languages do you know?" "French and English of course," she started. "And Spanish and Italian. Danish. Russian. Korean, Japanese and Lao."

"That's amazing! You can speak with everyone here in their native language and still know some more! You're great!" Sandrine blushed heavily about this and hid her face. Obviously she wasn't used to compliments. "Would you like teaching me another language?" I asked and she looked up in surprise. Then suddenly she smiled a little bit. "If you would like to, I could do," she said.

Just in this perfect moment as she finally had opened up a bit the monitor at the wall turned on, showing us Monokuma who looked extremly angry for a stuffed toy. "Meeting! Living room! Right now!" he snarled.

Sandrine whimpered a bit and I got up and offered her a hand. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to us." I gave my best to sound as confident as possible. Sandrine hesitated for a moment, then she seized my hand and got to her feet as well. Together we went to the living room and quickly everyone gathered there.

Just then Monokuma came climbing out of the drawer once more and glared at us, his paws on his hips. "You are all sooo boring," he greeted us. "I wait and wait and wait and nothing happens! Are you all really so happy here that you don't want to leave? Or do you just not want to kill someone because you're all such good good friends? Booooring."

"Stop talking nonsense and come to the point," Tani said impatiently. "Yes, yes." Monokuma tilted his head. "You're curious now? Well, to end this boring cuddle-show I have prepared something for you!"

And the next moment all lights went out. "My eyes!" I could hear Sandrine scream beside me. "I'm blind!" "It's probably just a power black-out," I tried to comfort her but Sandrine wasn't the only one panicking. "Damn, what is this?! Turn the lights on!" I could hear Reece yell, sounding really nervous. "Alice, you're smothering me," Marilyn complained.

There were some curses and clattering and then Reece yelled "Why is the door locked?!" Just then we could hear Monokuma's sinister laugh. "I know what you all need! A motive!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Marilyn asked, making him laugh even more. "Fear is always a good motive, isn't it? So, if you don't kill you will have to face everything you fear the most! Just believe me, I know everything you're afraid of! Aaand this also includes people dying. Upupupu, what should I do? Make you suffocate? Burn you? Or maybe freeze you to death? Or make you drown?"

His words were followed by a buzz. It sounded like a giant bug flying through the room, I could even feel an air draught. And then we could hear a hissing. Tokaku's screaming drowned out any other sound. "No! Make this slithering creep go away! Get me out of here!" But in this total darkness it was impossible for her to see where the snake actually was and it was also impossible to leave the room. Tokaku's screams quickly turned into crying.

Just then it started to rain and for a moment I was confused about this. Not so much that it was raining in a room but more why anyone would be afraid of this. The next moment the lights turned on again. What was dripping from the ceiling wasn't water, it was a red liquid. Sandrine stared at me wide-eyed, then she whispered "B-blood" and fainted.

I tasted one drop and grimaced. _Hell, this really is blood._

Now that the lights were on again I quickly looked around what the others were doing. Tokaku had backed off to the next wall, burying her face in her hands and still whimpering. Next to her was the biggest snake I've ever seen, it held his head high, the long fangs shining. I had no idea where it came from but it probably would be the best no to be bitten by it.

Alice was still clinging to Marilyn as if she could protect him, a somehow unsettling sight since both of them were covered in blood. Next to me Tani stared wide-eyed at a giant cobweb from which red drops were dripping as well. She didn't even make an angry comment, showing how scared she was.

The others didn't look any better though, everyone had turned pale. Everyone but Daichi who still looked as calm and composed as ever. "Calm down, everyone," he said. "It's just chicken blood. And Hachiku, can't you kick the door open?"

The tall boy angrily narrowed his eyes. "I definitely could," he growled but before he could do anything the door finally opened by itself very slowly. A pale little hand crept through the door crack and then a small body followed. A bloodstained doll slowly entered the room, her long hair waving behind her, piercing us with her glass eyes and smiling lifelessly.

Aviana made a sound, half a cry, half a sigh and stumbled a step back. Hachiku stood up for her, his fists clenched. "Really?" he sneered. "That's all you got, Monokuma? Scaring us with a little doll?" And with one kick he sent the doll flying out of the room. Finally it stopped raining blood and instead the monitor at the wall switched on. "It's 10 p.m. now!" Monokuma proclaimed as always. "Nighttime! Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite you!" Just this time he added "Or other things, upupupu."

Tokaku blinked, saw the snake in front of her and stormed out of the room with another scream. Sandrine was still unconscious and I checked if she was breathing at all while Aviana whispered "I don't want to stay in my room alone. What if _it_ comes back? Or anything else…?"

Still we all knew the rules, everyone had to sleep in his own room and nowhere else. This would be a horrible night for sure.

 **Finally some motives!**

 **And something I wanted to ask you, my lovely readers: for the Class Trials – would you rather like them as a long chapter? Or a bit more interactive like in the games so you can try to solve them? Please let me know.**


	12. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter IX

**Thanks a lot for the reviews – I see you're all prepared for the deadly school life! It's great we have come so far!**

 **Also thanks for all the advices I got!**

 **WendyDokuro: I planned to add every day a new part to the Class Trial until it is done. That's no problem for me. :)**

 **FireDusk: Since you were waiting for the motive for so long now I was nervous it would disappoint you. Now I'm glad! ;)**

It was not very surprising that I had problems to fall asleep this night. Monokuma had been clever since he didn't tell us when our greatest fear would come true. So everyone of us knew that anytime something horrible could happen. And I could hear that the others were nervous, this night there were definitely more footsteps outside than usual.

Finally I somehow managed it to get some nightmare-free sleep and when I woke up unharmed I even got a bit excited thinking about the state the others would be in right now. Fear always had the most interesting effects on the human psyche. Still, it really was a strong motive and I could easily imagine someone to actually kill out of fear. And I didn't want anyone of these fascinating people here to die.

So I went to the dining hall like usual and found that some people were already there. Daichi who was writing in his journal and looking completely unaffected. Alice who looked like he hadn't slept at all with a trembling Sandrine next to him. Artyom who played with a knife as if he was expecting something to attack him any moment. Reece who was as pale as a sheet. Akira who looked tired but also ...confident? And Marilyn who jumped to her feet as I entered and greeted me with relief in her voice. "One more. We were worried something could have happened this night."

"Not to me," I replied with a smile. "It's good to see you here unharmed as well."

Reece returned the smile bitterly. "Yeah. I was so afraid Monokuma would lock our doors and I would be trapped in this room forever." "The Ultimate Trapper is afraid of being trapped?" Artyom asked, sounding slightly amused. "Well, it was obvious that wouldn't happen," Daichi commented without looking up from his notes. "How should we kill someone if we were locked up?"

Marilyn drummed her long nails on the table. "As if anyone would kill! Monokuma is the real enemy here!" Akira nodded. "We shouldn't fall to despair! Monokuma can bring snakes and dolls but there are some fears he just can't possibly fulfil! I had a long talk with my buddy last night and he told me that there is still hope if we stick together." Alice smiled weakly. "I think I like your buddy."

Just then the door opened and Tokaku and Aviana came in. The small Explorer looked terrified yet she seemed to be relieved to see us all. Tokaku smiled a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry that I just ran away yesterday," she told us. "I hope everyone is okay."

And so we kept waiting. Ari appeared as late as usual but there was no sign of the others. I could feel how my companions got more and more nervous the more time passed and finally I suggested "We should look for the others." Alice nodded slowly. "That's a good..." He paused suddenly and rubbed his temples. "Y-you're alright?" Sandrine asked and he forced a smile onto his face. "Yes, don't worry. I fear I haven't slept at all last night. Well, we should go."

Ari was too tired and Aviana too nervous to come with us and Alice told Marilyn to stay in the dining hall to keep an eye on Sandrine while we were away. We others went over to the corridor with the bedrooms. Since six of us were still missing everyone chose a door to knock at except for Daichi who just stood there and observed the situation.

I knocked at Vivienne's door and called her name but there was no reply. I couldn't imagine that she was still asleep so either she wasn't in her room or she simply didn't want to answer. Tokaku stepped to me and said with a slightly worried expression "Ammy told me she doesn't feel good." "Tani doesn't want to leave her room either," Artyom commented.

Akira was still trying his luck with Panini who refused to come out either. Through the door I could her yell "Monokuma will never make my fear come true! Never!" She sounded a bit hysterical but at least not directly harmed.

We went over to the boy's part of the corridor. Reece had somehow managed to get a nervous looking Jason out of his room while Alice was still giving his best to convince Hachiku to come out to us. Finally the tall boy opened the door and glared at Alice with clenched fists. "Just leave me alone, faggot! I've enough of your friendship-shit, get it?!"

Alice didn't even blink. "Please listen. You don't need to be afraid. No one of us will be killed, I will take care of that. So..." "Did you just call me _afraid_?!" Hachiku roared, sending Alice flying with a punch. We all winced when the boy crushed into the ground and didn't get up again.

"Hell, boys!" Tokaku murmured and rushed to Alice to check if he was okay. Reece glared at Hachiku, his own fists clenched as well. "Are you bloody stupid?!" I got a bit worried that the much smaller boy would get punched next so I quickly stepped between the two guys. "Hey, calm down!"

There were footsteps and the others from the dining hall joined us. "What are you doing so long?" Marilyn asked frowning about the situation.

Just then we could hear Tokaku curse and there was panic in her voice when she said "Guys! He isn't breathing!"

We turned around to see her staring at us with wide eyes full of despair, Alice still completely motionless on the ground. "Whaddya mean?" Hachiku growled. The next moment the monitor at the wall turned on, showing Monokuma sitting at his desk and juggling with oranges. "Congratulations! A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, the Class Trial will begin!"


	13. Monokuma's hostel: Chapter X

**Thank you all, I enjoyed your reviws and I hope Alice will find his peace.**

 **This case was based on the headcannon 'What if you accidentally kill someone in front of everyone else?' I actually didn't want that to be the first case but well… the first case is a bit different from the others then.**

 **FireDusk: Never a vegan hotdog! Never!**

 **One pancho man: I'll make sure Alice will never be forgotten. :)**

For a moment all of us just stood there in shock, Monokuma's words still echoing in our ears. Then Marilyn made a noise like a hurt animal and the next moment she lunged at Hachiku. "What did you do? What did you do?!"

Despite being more than eight inches smaller than the muscular boy Marilyn was someone whose rage shouldn't be released. Hachiku really struggled to keep her at bay while she was shouting at him half in English, half in Russian.

Finally Ammy, Panini and Tani had left their rooms as well, watching the scene wide-eyed. "W-what happened?" Ammy asked with a shaking voice. "Monokuma said something about a body?" No one wanted to respond to that and finally Daichi said "Apparently Alice is dead." Hearing him say this in his emotionless tone was almost painful.

Sandrine stumbled towards Alice with huge, glazed eyes. "A-Alice?" she asked before she collapsed once more next to the...corpse. I just couldn't believe that Alice was dead, just a moment ago he had been alive! But Tokaku wouldn't lie about it and Monokuma already declared that there was a dead body.

Daichi continued calmly "Monokuma said something about a Class Trial. We probably should start to investigate." Finally Marilyn stopped her attacks and glared at Daichi. "Why?! We all know what happened! This bastard – he killed Alice!" "Hell no!" Hachiku quickly protested. He had a bleeding scratch on his cheek and I remembered how sharp Marilyn's nails were. "What kind of weakling dies from a soft punch like that?" "Don't you dare calling him a weakling!" Marilyn screamed, her fists clenched.

"Marilyn, calm down!" Daichi ordered with a sudden authority in his voice. "We should try to understand everything about this case before we make any mistakes." The Historican glared at him for a moment, then she hissed and turned around, leaving the room without saying another word. She didn't cry but I could see her pain in every step she took.

"I...I really didn't kill him," Hachiku declared. He sounded shocked but no one listened to him anyway. Reece was still bristling with rage so I thought it would be better to stay near to him before he could do something stupid.

Ari had pulled on his gloves and smirked which seemed a bit out of place in this situation. "I can examine the body," he offered and Daichi nodded. "Very well. Everyone here should do their best for this investigation so..." Before he could end his sentence Akira murmured something and stormed out of the room. Daichi didn't call him back just calmly continued his orders. "Ari, you can examine the body and stay here to protect it?" "Sure."

Now Reece spoke up. "Shouldn't we do something about him?" He angrily pointed at Hachiku who appeared to be too shocked to react. Daichi thought about it for a moment. "Well, Artyom could you stay here and keep an eye on Hachiku?" The hunter shrugged. "Of course." "And everyone else, you should go investigating," Daichi ordered. "Just look for anything that could be important."

Aviana had hidden her face behind her hands, muffling her screams, but I could see that she was totally disturbed. Who wouldn't? One of our friends had just died before our very eyes! Tokaku hugged the terrified girl and murmured "Come, we should go investigating." Eventually Aviana followed her and Jason quickly joined the two girls.

Panini had fallen to her knees and didn't move anymore, she didn't even look up when her name was called. Daichi seemed to be a bit annoyed about her behaviour but it was obvious that Panini wouldn't be of any help here. Ammy put her arm around the small girl and murmured "I get her to her room. She needs some distance from… this." I had the feeling that Ammy needed the distance as well judging her shocked expression.

While the two girls made their way to Nini's room Daichi looked at me. "Lewis, you should go to look for Akira. He's a child after all." I was surprised by this order but just nodded and left the scene.

I found Akira at the stairs. He was sitting on a step, his head covered in his hands. Apparently he didn't hear me approaching and so he winced a bit when I touched his shoulder. "Are you all right?" I asked and he nodded, wiping his face. "Yes. I was...just shocked." I had the feeling there was more behind it but I didn't want to push him so I just said "Well, that is a normal reaction. Everyone would be shocked. Hey... would you like to investigate with me?"

Akira looked up in surprise, then nodded with a smile. "I would. Where should we go?" Since I had seen Tokaku's group going upstairs I decided that we should take care of the ground floor. We went to the living room which was still covered in chicken blood. At least I hoped that it was just chicken blood.

The door to the atelier opened and Reece stepped out of it. "That's weird," he said. "All the canvas are missing. It looks like the atelier is totally empty. Guess, Nini wouldn't like to hear about that..."

There was nothing else interesting in this storey and so we went upstairs again to take a look inside the kitchen. I didn't really know what we were looking for, so it was good I had brought Akira with me. After some seconds he had discovered shards of a broken cup in the waste bin. "That must have broken after the begin of nighttime yesterday," Akira said. I could see his point, every day at 10 p.m. our waste vanished in a mysterical way. Still I had no idea if that was of any importance at all.

We left the kitchen and saw Tani coming out of the opposite room. "Nothing inside the dining room," was everything she said and then she walked away, obviously not wanting to talk to us. Now Tokaku, Aviana and Jason came down the stairs.

"We found nothing really important," Tokaku said and I could see in her face that she didn't really know what she look for anyway. "The lights in the music room were still on. I… I guess Alice must have been there this night. He really loved music..." "And the store room looked like someone had rifled through it," Aviana added quietly. "But I don't know if something is missing…. There was so much inside!"

Just then Akira got a strange expression on his face. "Can we meet later?" he asked and as I nodded he rushed off, leaving us a bit confused. "Well, we will continue then," Tokaku said and the three of them wandered off while I went back to the corridor with the bedrooms where Daichi, Ari, Artyom and Hachiku were still waiting. And Alice of course.

"Where is Akira?" Daichi asked me and I shrugged. "He had some idea and left." Daichi didn't comment on that. "Monokuma has opened the victim's room for us," he told me instead. _So it's not Alice anymore, just_ _the_ _victim?_

Of course I went inside just to find that I wasn't the only one there. Sandrine was sitting on the bed and as she looked up I could see the tears in her eyes. I could only imagine how she felt right now. "Can I do anything for you?" I asked but she just shook her head.

I quickly looked around to find that Alice's room looked exactly like the others. Still, I could see some personal additions. There was a trombone, carefully being placed on the armchair. And on the bedside cabinet I could see some photos. I took a look at the first one, showing Alice together with a group of boys, all of them looking like they were in a really good mood. Of course as a drum major he had needed a band. And I could well imagine that he had been a great friend for them.

Beside this I found nothing else interesting and so I asked Sandrine if she had seen anything. "The lights were already on when I came in," she told me and then shook her head. "But I didn't find anything..." I could see that she wanted to be alone for a while and so I left the room again.

Daichi was already waiting for me and signaled me that he wanted to talk in private. "Did you see anyone act strange?" he asked then. Though he asked for my opinion I had the feeling he judged my behaviour. Well, there was nothing he could see anyway. I was a bit less cheerful than usual and didn't try to hide anything. And I also answered like this. "No. I guess everyone is just shocked about this… accident." If Hachiku's punch really killed Alice it was just an accident, wasn't it?

"I see. Well, Lewis, what have you been doing last night?" I smiled a bit confused. "Trying to sleep. Why?" Daichi pointed at his journal. "Last night I heard several footsteps on the floor. Fifteen times to be precise. I wrote that down. And now I'm thinking if that had importance for our case. I will ask the others the same question as well. I guess we will see each other later."

With that he went away and I decided to finally take a closer look at the body. Ari was sitting next to Alice, somehow managing it to look bored. "Wanna see what I found?" he asked me and I nodded, kneeling down next to them.

Alice didn't look like he was dead, more like he was sleeping and would open these crystal blue eyes of his anytime. It was a somehow sad sight how his grey curl hung down completely lifeless.

"He has a little wound at the back of his head," Ari told me with a laidback expression. "Probably from his fall. Plus this shiner here. It's unlikely that these wounds killed him though. I couldn't find other wounds either. But look here." He pointed at the corner of Alice's mouth. I could see that there was a bit of blood. "And also he has some strange spots at his hands. Doesn't look very healthy." _Maybe_ _it hadn't been an accident then._

I thanked Ari for his help and stepped away. Vivienne hadn't left her room since the morning and I thought I should better check if she was all right. So I knocked at her door until I heard her annoyed voice "Leave me alone!" "One of us died!" I replied. "Don't you want to know about it?" "No, go away! I have nothing to do with it anyway!"

 **Ding-dang-dong**! Just then the monitor at the wall turned on once more. "Attention please!" Monokuma proclaimed. "Time's up! Everyone gather at the basement door! Everyone! Your very first breathtaking Class Trial is about to begin! Upupupu..." Only some seconds later the door finally opened. Vivienne wore only one shoe and she bit her lip as if standing would pain her. "You have to help me," she demanded. "My ankle is hurt."

Truly her bare foot looked a bit swollen. "How did that happen?" I asked and she glared at me. "I tripped, okay? It's none of your business anyway. Just help me already!" I had always wondered how she had been able to walk with these high heels of hers in the first place...

I let her lean on me and so we made our way downstairs. Of course we were the last to arrive and everyone was already waiting for us. "What happened?" Ammy asked. "Are you hurt?" "Mind your own business," Vivienne replied and I was a bit surprised by this. I had expected her to try to attract attention and arouse pity with her injury. Snapping at us like this was more like Tani's style.

The door to the basement finally opened but instead of a room there was something like a giant lift car behind it. We all hesitated until Daichi said "We should better get in."

One after another we stepped inside and as I looked back for a last time I could see nothing but the dark staircase. Then the door closed and the lift started to go down. There were no buttons or anything, we could not change the destination of the lift and it felt a bit like it would sink towards hell itself. Carefully I looked at all my classmates, everyone was lost in their own thoughts and fears.

Finally the door opened again and we could see a giant room in front of us. We had to be just beneath the atelier what would explain the size of this room. There were no windows plus the light was rather dim, everything conveyed a feeling of fear and despair. I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been some dead rats laying around in the corners.

In the centre of the room were seventeen little pedestals forming a circle, each one in a different colour. Behind them was a much bigger pedestal with Monokuma sitting on it and waving at us.

"You all made it here," he greeted us. "Well, except one of course, ahahaha." "Shut the hell up!" Reece sounded really angry as he stepped forward. "One of our friends has died because of you!" "But I'm not the killer," Monokuma chuckled. "And now please go to your pedestals."

It was easy to see who should take which since they were in the same colours as our handbooks but still we hesitated. Probably because it would look like we would agree with Monokuma's sick games. "Graaar!" Monokuma showed us his claws. "After all the effort I put into arranging them by colour you don't want to go there? That's so impolite!" Indeed, there was a white one next to a pale yellow one, then yellow, a darker tone, dark orange, red, dark red, beige, crimson, pink, violet, dark blue, sapphire blue, light blue, green, dark green, black. I couldn't help but being a bit annoyed that the dark red one was next to the beige one. But now wasn't the time to talk about that.

Everyone finally found their place, to my right I had Panini standing (she just stared at her hands – it was obvious that she couldn't handle the situation) and to my left was an empty pedestal. A photo of Alice was glued to it, a bloody red X crossing out his face. In front of me I had a speaker's desk with a little display but I had no idea for what I could need it.

"So for those of you who are totally slow," Monokuma started. "The rule is simple: You try to find the murderer and theeeeen you vote! So if the vast majority is voting for the right murderer the blackened gets executed and..."

"Wait, what?" Tokaku interrupted. "No one said something about an execution!" Monokuma chuckled. "But I told you that no one should see that you're the murderer, right? And you don't learn if I don't set a warning example, right?" "What if we vote for the wrong person?" Daichi asked.

"The murderer graduates and leaves! And the rest of you gets executed of course! Now then, no more questions? Then let the Class Trial beeeeegin!"

 **And so the very first Class Trial will begin! I admit the first case isn't that well but have fun nevertheless. Theories are always interesting!**

 **And I also received a request I think I should tell you about. We could make a chat for the submitters of this story to get to know each other a little better. If you're interested in that just contact me. Thank you for your attention.**


	14. Class Trial I

**Thank you all so much for your reviews and thoughts about the case!**

 **The first Class Trial can finally start now and I want to try something out. Orientating on the original games I try to involve some questions so you, my beloved readers, can help solving the case. I will upload new parts to this chapter until the Trial is done. Also, I will try to be very quick so you don't have to wait too long for the Class Trial to procede.**

 **Alright, let's see how this works out!**

"We're all going to get executed?" Sandrine asked with tears in her eyes. She was the first to break the silence after Monokuma's words, looking like a terrified little animal all alone on her white pedestal.

"Don't worry," Marilyn said grimly. "This case is totally obvious. Hachiku is the killer!"

"Yes, he killed Alice right in front of our eyes!" Reece joined in.

"I...didn't," Hachiku protested but it sounded weaker than before, probably because he couldn't argue against the wrath of his class mates. Maybe he even started to think that his punch really killed Alice. But remembering what Ari had showed me I said "Maybe we should think about that once more. I don't really believe that punch killed him."

Hachiku glared at me. "What? You doubt I could punch someone to death?"

 _He's not very good at defending himself, isn't he?_ "No, I just meant that Alice died because of something else."

Ari who had been playing with his lighter once again now told the others what he had seen and Tokaku asked "So, maybe he had been poisoned?"

"That seems likely," Daichi nodded.

Marilyn frowned. "Oh really? And when would he have been poisoned? He still died after Hachiku punched him, right?"

I tried to remember the scene as well as possible. Hachiku had knocked Alice down. The next moment Reece had shouted at him about it while Tokaku had checked on Alice. I had stepped next to Reece so I could only guess what the others had been doing. Jason had just left room, while Akira and Artyom were trying to get Panini and Tani out of their rooms. Daichi had calmly observed everything. And then we all had looked up as Marilyn and the others had been approaching.

Akira was even quicker than I. "Tokaku could have done it," he said thoughtfully.

The black-haired girl frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you checked on him," Akira continued. "You could have poisoned him while we others didn't pay attention to you. It should have been possible."

"I don't think Tokaku could have done it," Ari objected. "I didn't find any puncture sites when I examined Alice. And he also didn't have any rests in his mouth. I have no idea how she could have done it then. Especially without anyone noticing it."

Tokaku smiled at him in relief. "Thanks for making that clear."

He returned the smile with a wink. "My pleasure, beauty."

"And who did it then?" Vivienne asked impatiently. She hid her face behind her fan once more but her voice sounded stressed.

"If it had been before the punching he must have get the poison during the breakfast," Ammy said. "It wouldn't have been so difficult to put something into his drink, wouldn't it?"

"Right!" Vivienne exclaimed. "So who had breakfast with him?"

"Alice was the first one there," Daichi said. "Even before me. Later Marilyn and Sandrine joined us. And Artyom, Reece, Akira, Lewis, Tokaku, Aviana, Ari. In this order."

"So one of them did it!" Vivienne proclaimed. "Probably Sandrine. I guess Alice had been totally careless around her."

Sandrine's light brown eyes widened. "N-no! I wouldn't do...something so horrible!"

"And I think someone would have noticed it if anyone of us poisoned his drink," Marilyn added.

"Could Tokaku maybe have used her hypnosis so no one would notice?" Reece asked and the dark-haired girl glared at him. "That's not how it works! Plus I don't hypnotise males. No, I don't think he was poisoned at breakfast in front of everyone but last night."

"But wouldn't the poison have worked sooner then?" Tani asked with a frown. "And maybe you would have noticed it if someone had meddled with Alice's drink but what if he himself put the poison inside?"

"Why should he do that?" Marilyn asked. "I don't think he got poisoned at all – it was the punch!"

"I d-doubt, i-it w-was the punch." Jason calmly spoke up and then straightened himself. "He would have died instantly then. Right? But t-there could have been a slow-acting poison..."

"That's why it could have been last night," Tokaku agreed.

"Now that I think about it, Alice hadn't look well this morning," I said.

"And Daichi has heard a lot of footsteps last night, right?" Akira asked and the other boy nodded.

"That's right," he said. "To understand what happened the night we should probably make clear who was walking around at that time."

Marilyn nodded. "I brought Sandrine to her room when she had fainted yesterday and stayed with her until she woke up again." "That's true," Sandrine agreed, looking a bit embarrassed.

"I stayed with Aviana," Tokaku told us. "We both were pretty scared last night. It was half past twelve when I went over to my room, I remember that because Avi was worried I got punished if I stayed longer." Aviana nodded to that.

Ari started playing with his lighter again. "I also left my room but not for long. You know there was one of Monokuma's monster-spiders in my room and I...um, got scared of it so I bombed it."

"You're serious?" Reece asked and then he thought about something. "Well, my room is next to yours and I didn't hear any explosion."

Ari just shrugged. "Looks like the walls are really soundproof. Anyway, I went to the store room because I needed a new blanket. My bed got a bit demaged, you know. The lights in the store room were still on so I guess someone had been there before me. Maybe Ammy, I met her at the stairs."

"That's right," the girl confirmed. "I'm terrified of spiders so I was afraid they were hiding in my room. I went to the store room to get some bug spray. But although I looked around for ages I couldn't find any."

Now we all looked at Vivienne who still hid behind her fan. "Well, I went outside as well," she said. "I just wanted to go to the kitchen to get some juice. And on my way back I tripped. I had to crawl back to my room so you see I couldn't do anything after that."

For the first time Panini looked up and her voice sounded unusually quiet when she said " Last night shortly after the begin of night time I went to the atelier to paint. When I returned my clock said it was already midnight."

"So, Panini went to the atelier," Reece said. "Then Ammy went to the store room to look for bug spray. She came back and met Ari who went to the store room as well. Marilyn went from Sandrine's room to her own. Vivienne went for a walk and came back. Ari returned to his room. Panini also returned. And Tokaku went from Aviana to her own room. Plus Alice probably went somewhere just like the person who poisoned him. And both of them returned to their rooms later as well. That should sum up the night."

"Wait a minute," I said. "If the walls are as soundproof as Ari said why could Daichi hear all the footsteps then?"

"And I heard them without a doubt," Daichi calmly added.

Ari sighed. "Alright, alright. I didn't bomb this creature although I really wanted to. But that sounded better than saying that I just screamt and ran out of the room, okay?"

"Hey, that makes you suspicious!" Marilyn exclaimed.

"And I also don't think that this summed up the night," Akira said. "We found a broken cup in the waste bin and no one has explained how it went there yet."

"Plus I counted fifteen steps and you just explained fourteen so far," Daichi added.

"Maybe the murderer went away afterwards to get rid of whatever had contained the poison?" Ammy suggested.

"I don't think so," Daichi said calmly. "But maybe someone else can tell us about it. Right, Reece?"

The boy winced. "What, m-me?"

"You're shirking from my look since we started talking about this. Plus you're looking quite nervous now. So, maybe you will answer my question what you did last night honestly this time?"

Reece sighed. "All right. Well, it's my fault Vivienne hurt her ankle. I had installed a little trap and she walked right into it. But it's not like you're thinking now! I wanted to catch Monokuma's creepy toys and not one of the girls, ehehe."

"You were the only one thinking that," Marilyn commented drily.

"Anyway, Vivienne hurt her ankle when she stepped into the trap and I had to carry her to her room," Reece continued with a light blush. "And then I went back to my room. Sorry, I didn't tell you guys sooner but I promised Vivienne not to tell."

The girl didn't say anything, just hid behind her fan. _Why did she go to the boy's rooms in the first place?_ _Could it be...?_ _She had been looking for someone to comfort her after Monokuma's scary announcement?_

"So, we cleared all the steps now except for four," Daichi said. "Then we can assume they belong to Alice and the murderer going somewhere and back to their rooms? And I guess, it is also their fault that this cup got broken."

To our surprise Monokuma piped up. "That's exactly right. And you know what? Alice was poisoned at around quarter past twelve." _What_? _Did he just help us?_

"That means Avi and I have alibis," Tokaku said. "And Vivienne probably, too, since she couldn't walk on her own."

"You know what I have been wondering?" Marilyn asked. "Where did the murderer get the poison in the first place? It shouldn't have been just laying around."

"It could have been in the store room," Tani suggested.

"Wouldn't it be quite dangerous to store poison in the kitchen?" Reece asked with a frown.

"I don't think it had been in the kitchen's store room," Aviana spoke up for the first time. "I checked it and I couldn't see anything missing there."

"I guess Tani meant the big store room next to the music room," Daichi said and the girl nodded to that.

Ammy sighed. "But everyone could have taken it from there! Plus everyone had a motive, too..."

Akira looked as if he wanted to say something but Marilyn interruptesd him. "But why did it have to be Alice? Couldn't they choose someone more unlikeable?"

"Maybe Alice poisoned himself," Tani said with a serious expression.

Marilyn groaned. "You start with this again? Why should he do that?"

"Maybe because he had been hypnotised!" Vivienne suggested. "Why don't you just admit it, Tokaku?"

The black-haired girl took a step back. "What the…?! I already told you I don't hypnotise males!"

"And if Alice wasn't male in the first place?" Vivienne asked. "Alice is a girl's name after all!"

"No," Ari objected. "I examined him and he's definitely male."

"That was ridiculous anyway," Tani commented. "I meant that he committed suicide. Doesn't that make a lotta sense? He was a really nice guy, wasn't he? Sure he didn't want your guys' fears come true. So he killed himself. Case solved and there's no murderer."

"So we should just vote for Alice or what?" Reece asked.

Tani nodded. "I think that's what we should do. If it's suicide we vote for the victim, right, Monokuma?"

The bear who had been stuffing himself with Monokuma-chocolate-bars showed us a thumbs up now and nodded.

"Are you sure about it?" Daichi asked calmly. "If it really had been suicide, don't you think there is something missing?"

"You're talking about a suicide note, right?" I asked since I knew we didn't find any in his room.

"Who cares about suicide notes?" Tani snapped. "He probably didn't think that would be important. I don't know his reasons!"

"Now that I think about it," Tokaku said slowly. "When we left to get the others at breakfast Alice told Marilyn and Sandrine to stay in the dining room. Could it be because he knew he would die? And didn't want them to see that?"

Sandrine started crying by then. "D-did Alice really sacrifice himself for u-us?"

"That's what I think," Tani nodded. Though she avoided my gaze I could read it in her face, she wasn't really believing this.

"I have a question, Tani," I said. "If it was suicide why didn't Alice use an easier way to commit it? And why did he wait until the morning? And how would you explain his words that he would take care that no one would die? That doesn't sound like he wanted to kill himself."

"How should I know?" Tani asked back. "I can't read minds, ya know."

"Why do you insist that it was suicide then?" I asked. "You didn't even know Alice well enough to really tell if he was a person who would sacrifice himself so easily."

"Yeah, it makes you a bit suspicious," Marilyn added.

Tani bit her lip and then finally bursted out with "But it had to be suicide! It just had to be! If it's not then someone of us really committed murder! They betrayed us! And I really can't stand the thought of bein' betrayed!"

"Oh, Tani..." Ammy seemed to be really touched by this sudden statement.

 _Interesting. Maybe that's the reason why Tani keeps her distance?_

"Excuse me," Aviana said softly. "I don't like being betrayed either but… I think someone was ready to betray us for sure."

"You are talking about the person who tried to kill Lewis with these peanuts, am I right?" Akira asked and Aviana nodded.

"So you think whoever poisoned Alice is the one who tried to kill Lewis?" Ammy asked. "Who is it then?"

No one replied to that. I looked around but no one even looked guilty. They probably were very good at hiding.

"What if Alice was the one who tried to kill Lewis?" Reece asked. I doubted that someone like Alice would have done that but not every one shared this opinion.

"Then you wanted revenge!" Vivienne pointed at me with her fan while saying this. "He tried to kill you once, you found out and killed him instead."

"Of course not," I protested but Vivienne didn't listen. "Well, it's a bit strange that you weren't the victim this time."

"Not if that person got more careful," Akira helped me out. "They probably thought that Lewis would get suspicious if they offered him a drink, especially after that incident and looked for an easier victim."

"That could be the case," Daichi said. "But who knows if Lewis did tell the truth about this nut-story? Maybe no one had tried to kill him in the first place?"

"Why should he do that?" Reece asked with a frown.

"To create a situation in which we all would be anxious and suspicious of each other," Daichi explained.

"Why should I do that?" I asked and he looked me in the eye without showing any emotion.

"To test how people would react after that. How it changed their behaviour. I thought this would be something you liked to do."

I smiled awkwardly, playing with my tie. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"If Lewis lied about that... he could be guilty this time, too," Tokaku said, blinking apologetically.

 _Great! How did I end up in this situation?_ It wasn't helping either that I still could feel Daichi's scrutinising look on me.

"Unless he had an accomplice I highly doubt Lewis could have done it," Akira said then. _Oh, isn't he just an adorable little child?_

"And why is that so?" Daichi asked.

Akira smiled suddenly, looking quite proud as he finally revealed what he had planned. "I tried to hack my handbook," he explained. "It is quite difficult, to be honest, yet I managed to freeze some recordings. You all remember how we can look every time where the other handbooks are at this moment, right? Well, I managed to keep these recordings so I can see where these handbooks have been at a certain time."

"Well done, soldier!" Marilyn complimented him. "So we can see where everyone had been last night?"

Akira shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Like I said it's a bit difficult, these handbooks were programmed in a very complicated way. I only managed to keep the recordings for one room, the store room. After I heard that this room had been rifled through I looked who had been there last night."

"So if anyone has been there without telling us we can assume they took the poison?" Reece asked. "So, who went there?"

Suddenly Akira didn't look so proud anymore. "Well, Amelia and Ari were there like they told us. And… Panini."

Everyone turned around to the girl who looked up now and somehow resembled a deer seeing the car lights coming nearer. "Y-yes, I've been there," she stumbled.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner then?" Daichi asked.

"I s-somehow forgot it," Panini said. "I didn't think about it anymore...not in this…situation."

"Come on, guys!" Tokaku put her hands to her hips and glared at us. "You don't seriously think Nini could have done it?"

"I didn't!" Panini had tears in her eyes now. "I just went there to look for new paint tubes! And then I went to the atelier with them like I said and painted!"

"That reminds me, where are all the canvas from the atelier?" Reece asked.

"I took them to my room," Panini confessed. "I knew I wasn't allowed to spend the night outside of my room so I went there with the canvas to keep on painting. I was so afraid Monokuma would...he would kill me before my art would be discovered! So I planned to paint the entire night!"

"If she can prove that she painted the entire night, she would have an alibi," Marilyn said.

"Oh, would you like to see my paintings?" Panini asked and just then Monokuma took a portfolio out of his pedestal. "Do you mean these paintings by any chance?" he asked innocently, waving with the portfolio.

"Yes! Give them back!" Panini said and Monokuma spread them out so we all could take a look at them.

Apparently Panini had made paintings of us during Monokuma's announcement of the motive. They almost looked like photos, just that the chicken blood was pink and not red.

I could see myself, looking curiously at the blood on my clothes, Sandrine laying next to me on the floor.

And there was Alice, clinging to Marilyn who looked a bit perplexed.

Reece desperately tried to open the door.

Vivienne knelt on the ground, her face hidden behind the fan.

Tokaku was standing next to the wall with the giant snake in front of her.

Hachiku kicked the doll out of the room with Aviana standing behind him and looking terrified.

Ari was hiding behind Ammy while giant spiders were approaching them.

Tani starred horrified at the giant cobweb next to her.

Artyom looked wildly around, his knife in hand.

Jason had covered his face in hands.

Akira looked like was mumbling to himself with a terrified expression.

And Daichi was writing something into his journal, looking expressionless as always.

Something was wrong here…

"W-what...what d-did y-you write d-down there?" Jason asked Daichi who calmly looked at his journal. "Your reactions, of course. Though Panini hasn't drawn herself I can remember how she clutched her paint brushes with a determined expression."

"I really wanted to draw," Nini explained while I finally understood what appeared wrong to me.

I chuckled a bit. "Ari, you really hid behind a girl because of some spiders?"

"Hey, they were huge!" he replied, verifying it with this.

"But Ammy," I said, looking at the black-haired girl. "I thought you were terrified of spiders. How come it doesn't look like that here? You even protected the boy from them." Since she didn't reply I added "You probably should have thought of a better excuse why you went to the store room."

"What do you mean, 'excuse'?" Ari asked with a frown.

I still looked at the girl. "You weren't there for bug spray or the like, right, Ammy? It wouldn't make sense since you knew that Monokuma wouldn't confront you with spiders. So, what did you look for in the store room?"

"I...I..." Ammy looked more and more like she had walked into a trap.

"You spoke a little bit faster than usual when you told us that you went to the store room," Daichi added. "You were obviously lying. And why don't you answer us now? There would be absolutely no reason for you to hesitate."

"But so quickly you cannot think of another lie, right?" I continued. "So let me ask you, Ammy, did you kill Alice?"

Being confronted with such a question Ammy could only stare at me. I admit it was a hasty judgement but sometimes confronting people was the best way to find the truth. And since Ammy didn't reply anything I could assume that she was deeply shocked.

Just then Ari barged in. "Of course she didn't! That's ridiculous! Just because she was in the store room that time? Maybe she did find the poison and threw it away and someone else found it later! Or maybe that crazy kid is lying about the records! The fact is, you have absolutely no proof Ammy's the killer!"

"I'm not sure about that," I said and Ari looked like he wanted to throw his lighter at me. I really wondered why he was so mad about this. "We didn't find any container or package for the poison inside of one of the waste bins. That means it still has to be somewhere. And I could very well imagine that Ammy has it with her right now."

"T-that's absurd!" Ammy protested. "I don't have any poison!" She quickly took off her top hat and shook it. Next she removed her jacket and showed every one of us the inside of the pockets. She even rolled up the sleeves of her red leotard. "You see? I don't have anything with me!"

"Maybe she _t_ hrew it away earlier and it vanished with the rest of the waste," Tokaku guessed without looking at the other girl.

Reece coughed. "Or she hides it underneath her clothes."

Vivienne rolled her eyes. "Well, isn't she a great Magician? Maybe she made it vanish with a magic trick."

"Or she just put it back into the store room later," Marilyn suggested.

"But maybe she really is innocent," Aviana said quietly.

############################################################################################################

They were discussing it back and forth while Ammy just stood there with her arms crossed. Before, I did have the feeling that she had been a bit shocked, even guilty but now it didn't look like that any more. Of course, if we didn't find the package we couldn't really tell who was the killer.

Finally it was Jason who interrupted the discussion with his shy voice. "M-maybe it r-really… is like a magic trick."

"I beg your pardon?" Vivienne looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

"W-well… Magician hats normally have secret compartments, r-right?" Jason asked, looking a bit uncomfortable to be the centre of attention. "That's how they do their tricks..."

"That's right!" I agreed. "You often conjured something out of your hat, Ammy."

She bit her lip, looking down at the top hat in her hands.

"Someone should take a look at it," Daichi said calmly but before anyone could do anything Ammy herself reached into the hat and pulled a little phial out of it. With slightly shaking hands she showed it to us. "Looks like the show is over…."

 **And finally the Class Trial is done!**


	15. Execution I

**Thank you all so much for the reviews!**

 **And also well done to those who tried to solve the case.**

Everyone stared at the black-haired girl in shock as she showed us the final evidence. "You see, I was innocent!" Hachiku said triumphantly but no one paid him attention. "Why did you do it?" Marilyn finally asked. Her face was almost expressionless as different emotions were battling inside of her. "Why did you kill Alice?"

Ammy's blue eyes suddenly filled with tears and she shook her head. "I'm so sorry!"

"You bitch!" To our surprise it was Sandrine who finally spoke up, an unusual fierce expression in her brown eyes as she clenched her fists. "Now you dare to cry and think we would pity you? You're a murderer! Alice was such a great person, he was nice to everyone, he was our friend! How… how could you have been so selfish to kill him?! What is wrong with you?! Why did you take him away from me?!"

Ammy stared at her wide-eyed while tears were streaming down her face. "I know Alice didn't deserve it," she said quietly. "But he was the easiest victim. He was so trusting. I know it was horrible of me to betray his trust like this but I needed to do something!"

"You would even sacrifice all of us to get out?" Ari asked desperately. "I can't believe that!"

"I didn't know all of you would die!" Ammy cried out. "Please, you have to believe me! But I needed to save my brother!"

"Your brother?" I asked, suddenly remembering the baby boy on the photo she had shown me. Ammy clenched her fists now. "I was so terribly afraid something would happen to him… And I just knew Monokuma would hurt him! There is no way I could have let that happen!"

"Ammy, that's..." Reece looked at her with a sad expression. "I can understand that. If someone would touch my little sister..."

"But why didn't you get rid of the bottle as soon as possible?" Tani asked now with a frown. "If you had done that we probably wouldn't have caught you." That made Ammy smile bitterly. "I actually had wanted to blame someone else. It would have been a very easy trick." She turned towards Vivienne who had the pedestal next to her and apparently pulled the phial out of Vivienne's skirt pocket. "And then I would have said, 'Oh my, what do we have here?'"

Vivienne gasped for breath, glaring at the other girl. "You wouldn't have dared!" Ammy shrugged. "I wanted to but then… I just couldn't do it..."

"Ammy..." Ari looked like he wanted to say something but Monokuma interrupted him. "Let's skip this boring talking and carry on with the fun! Everyone's voting for Ammy, right?" No one dared to disagree and he happily clapped his paws. "Now then – let's give it everything we've got! Iiiiiit's punishment time!"

And with that the pedestal Ammy was standing on just sank into the ground. "No!" Ari screamed but before he could do anything Ammy had already vanished. For a moment I was sure we wouldn't see her again but then suddenly the door at the opposite wall of the room opened, revealing a stage with a large wooden box on it. Ammy was standing inside of it, not able to move due to the thick iron chains which were wrapped round her.

Monokuma suddenly appeared next to her, now wearing a top hat and a cape. "Let's start the execution for the Ultimate Magician Amelia D'Lacey! Now we will watch how the Magical Amelia will free herself from the chains!"

It was obvious for everyone that no human could possible free himself from these chains. Ammy tried to struggle but she could barely move a muscle. The pure weight of the chains had to hurt her and it was a miracle she managed to stand. Monokuma chuckled at her futile attempts. "And you're calling yourself a true Magician? No magic trick now?"

"Stop it!" Ari shouted angrily. "Stop mocking her!"

Monokuma clapped his paws once more. "Alright, alright." And the next moment Ammy fell down while the wooden box closed with a snap. It looked a bit like a coffin although there were two holes, one for the head and one for the feet. Monokuma took off his hat and pulled a saw out of it. "Now, you're all curious to see how the Great Monokuma will saw this woman in half?!"

"You...you won't really…?" Reece started, not even able to finish this sentence. We all could see the horror on Ammy's face when Monokuma stepped to the box.

And then with an incredible speed the grinning teddy bear started sawing. At first we could hear Ammy scream in horror and agony but it quickly died down as the box started to turn dark red. More red drops splattered the scene as the saw made its way through the body. Sandrine fainted at that sight while Tokaku had closed her eyes and repeated "It's just a dream, just a dream" over and over again. Panini had fallen to her knees and screamed Ammy's name and for Monokuma to stop. Most of the others just watched in complete shock. It was a horrible scene yet I simply couldn't look away.

And finally Monokuma stopped as the box broke in two at last. He turned around and bowed before us, his saw covered in blood, bone splinters and shreds of entrails.

Reece wasn't the only one who looked like he wanted to vomit. "Why?" he screamed. "Why?! This is so inhumane! I cant believe this!" Even Hachiku looked shocked. "Damn it, that was brutal," he commented. Panini had completely collapsed and cried heartbreakingly. And Ari just stood there with wide and hollow eyes.

Monokuma ignored them and just bowed again. "Thank you, thank you! You have been a wonderful audience!" Then he put the saw back into his hat and the door closed, leaving us in a horrified silence. Just then Daichi closed his journal and said calmly "But it was truly an ironic ending for her."

###########################################################################################################

This evening I went to Ammy's room.

We had left the basement in a shocked silence and everyone just went their way without saying anything. I knew, it would take some time to recover from this again and I wasn't sure if we could ever live together as we did before.

And so I went to Ammy's room which was open now that its owner wasn't alive any more. The room was the same mess as before, everything still a sign that Ammy had lived here. I sat down on her bed and slowly opened the drawer of the bedside cabin. Beside cards and cloths and various other things there still was this photo of Ammy with her family. I looked at the little girl with the shining eyes and the excited smile, the little girl that had been dreaming of a great future. I should better keep this photo with me before Monokuma got his paws on it.

"Oh, I...I didn't know you'd come here, too." The shaky voice made me look up and I could see Panini standing in the door. "I...I just had wanted to see..." Her voice trailed off.

I pointed at the drawer. "I have found some of her things here. It looked like she had planned some new tricks." Slowly Panini came nearer and sat down next to me, looking at all the little things Ammy had collected during her time here. Her blue eyes filled with tears once more.

"Is it my fault?" she asked. "If I hadn't made these paintings…you wouldn't have known Ammy lied and then she wouldn't have died like this..." She looked so desperate that I quickly put my arm around her and said comfortingly "No, don't blame yourself. With these paintings you saved all of us. But I should have noticed what Ammy was up to. Maybe I could have stopped her. I feel like I let her down..."

Nini snuggled up to me as if trying to comfort me although she herself was so sad. As I looked down at her I thought about how trusting she was. So nice, innocent, naive and at least in this moment very fragile as well. _She would make a perfect victim as well._

REMAINING STUDENTS: 15

 **And we're done with this. As for the next chapter, I have prepared a little Special for you!**


	16. Crime Special I

**Thanks for the reviews, the other executions will probably be less gory. Amelia actually didn't deserve this but who cares about justice?**

 **CGStrykerz: I see what you mean and I will see what I can do next time.**

 **RubyLeo: Well, he didn't actually say he could kill her. But yes, don't trust in humanity.**

 **Reapergenesis32: What? xD Hannibal Lecter...oh my god…**

 **Anyway, here's the little Special.**

Amelia sat on her bed, her heart pounding violently. She knew night time had begun and she should try to sleep but she also knew that there was no way she could sleep now, at least not without the most horrible nightmares. As soon as Monokuma had explained the motive she had known exactly what would happen if she did nothing.

Ever since her brother had been born she had cared about him. It didn't matter that Joshua was ten years younger than her or that they had different mothers, he was the best little brother she could imagine and she would always protect him like a good big sister should do. While her father had mocked her about her 'ridiculous hobby' and even her step mother who used to be a Magician herself told her to stop it and better try to get a serious job. But Joshua had always admired her and had loved to assist her with her tricks. The memory of his sweet giggle when she pretended to pull a rose out of his ear brought tears to her eyes.

Amelia could easily imagine that Monokuma was powerful enough to hurt him. He had kidnapped seventeen teenagers without anyone being able to do something against it and there was no way to escape. If he could do that, then he could also easily find a little boy and do terrible things to him.

Amelia had always been someone who acted quickly as soon as an idea crossed her mind. And this time she didn't hesitate – she had to get out of here to protect her little brother even if she had to do something she never had thought about. But how should she do it? There was no way she could stab someone, there would be blood everywhere and what if the person would scream? What should she do if she didn't kill her victim immediately and it had the chance to tell the others about what she did?

Better she wouldn't think about it. When she didn't hear any footsteps outside she sneaked out of her room and made her way to the store room, every step accompanied by the fear someone would see her. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for but she probably would find something that could help her out – this was what this bloody bear wanted after all.

The light was on in the store room, apparently someone had been here before and she could only hope they wouldn't return soon. Amelia had no idea how long she had to search but with every carton she rifled through she got more desperate. And then finally! There was a little phial with the skull and bones-symbol on it. She knew that this was a symbol for poison. Poison would be a good way, no blood, no screaming, maybe not even pain. Hopefully someone would just collapse and no one would blame her for it. It was almost a bit like a magic trick.

Amelia quickly grabbed the phial and put it into her pocket before rushing out of the room. The moment she jumped from the last step of the stairs someone said "Oh, hi, Ammy."

She suppressed a startled scream and tried to force a smile on her face as she saw Ari. "Hello there. You cannot sleep either?"

He looked as relaxed as always but replied "Yeah, I'm a bit worried about the spiders in my room. They could be venomous." This made Amelia's heart pound even faster. The last thing she wanted to talk about at the moment was anything related to poison and she just hoped she didn't look suspicious right now. She needed to say something.

"I just was in the store room and looked for bug spray," she lied. That would be the perfect explanation why she had been up this late. "I'm terrified of spiders, too."

Ari frowned slightly. "For real? Thought you weren't." But to Amelia's relief he just shrugged it off. "Whatever, I can understand it though."

It would have been easy to offer him to drink some tea together, he probably wouldn't be suspicious at all since he liked to be together with her. But Amelia just couldn't use this opportunity. She hadn't decided who she should kill yet (Vivienne was an arrogant drama queen and Daichi's coldness disturbed her a bit but she still didn't really want to kill them...hell, why did she had to think about things like this?!) but she could never kill Ari. They had have so much fun together, he was a great help for her tricks.

So she just wished him a good night and made her way back to her room. She needed some moments to sit on her bed and calm her nerves before she could make a new plan. The inscription on the phial told her that this poison needed some time until it worked. Maybe she could just poison some drink and then wait for someone to drink it. She wouldn't have to choose a victim and no one would be able to tie her to the murder.

With this plan in mind she waited until everything was quiet outside again and walked over to the kitchen. To her surprise the lights were on and someone else was already there. Apparently she had to change her plan.

Trying her best acting skills she walked in and greeted Alice who was sitting at the table, drumming his fingers on the table to a melody Amelia didn't know. He looked up and smiled exhausted but friendly. "I didn't want to bother you," Amelia said. "I just wanted to drink something."

"You don't bother me," Alice quickly replied. "I'm actually glad about some company. I have no idea how I should be able to sleep tonight. At least not without the lights on..." "Me neither," Amelia said honestly. "Every time I close my eyes I see Monokuma right in front of me." Then she got an idea and asked "Hey, how about I show you a new trick?"

Alice smiled. "Go on."

Amelia needed only a bit time of preparation then she showed Alice an empty cup. "Now watch closely as the great Amelia D'Lacey will fill this empty cup with the most delicious tea by only saying a word." Alice watched her hiding the cup with a cloth and when she pulled the cloth away after muttering a magical sounding word the cup was filled with the hot liquid.

"Amazing!" Alice complimented her. "How did you do that?" Amelia just smiled and asked "Would you like something for your tea? Milk? Sugar?"

"Sugar would be alright," he replied, curious what she would do next. It was an easy trick to apparently pull some sugar cubes out of thin air while filling some of the poison into the cup without her audience noticing it. "Voilà!" She let the sugar drop into the tea and offered Alice the cup.

"Thank you," he said with a smile, taking it. Amelia watched him nervously, this was the moment he could get suspicious and refuse to drink.

But that wasn't how Alice was. He grew up with a loving family and very easily made friends. Due to his talent he had a lot of success but he never turned to be arrogant and so no one really begrudged him his success. Alice never lost the trust he had in people and he would always do his best to get along with everyone. Like Amelia he had a younger sibling he cared a lot about but he simply couldn't imagine that Monokuma would hurt her and he had decided to trust his class mates. And because of this he didn't hesitate to drink the tea Amelia had offered him so kindly.

"I'm already feeling better now," he said once he had finished his drink. "Thanks for cheering me up, Ammy. You're a good friend."

Amelia could have cried. She didn't trust her voice so she just nodded with a shaky smile. _Joshua won't be harmed now_ , she thought, feeling only a little bit better. Soon Alice left to try finding some sleep and Amelia wanted to wash the cup he had used. However her fingers were shaking so much that she dropped it and the cup broke into pieces. Quickly she threw every piece into the waste bin and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down.

After all this would be her greatest trick….

 **The poll is open again by the way, so please vote for the three candidates you would like to see in a free time event.**


	17. New neighbourhood: Chapter I

**Thanks a lot for your nice reviews! I am very sorry about this delay, I'm a bit busy at the moment so the next chapter is also a shorter one. Anyway, enjoy!**

 **TechniqueFantasy: I'm really glad you liked the chapter so much! I though it would be fitting to kill this filled-with-hope person first since that would bring despair to the others, right? And interesting guesses, let's see what will happen.**

This morning was different than the others. Alice wasn't there to greet us in his friendly way. Ammy wasn't there to show us a new trick. Both of them had been so important for our group and without them this place felt even darker. Plus Aviana and Panini weren't at breakfast either.

I wasn't really worried about Aviana, although she was so small she looked like she could run pretty fast and I was sure she wouldn't trust the wrong people. No, I was more worried about Nini. I just couldn't stop thinking how easy it would be to kill her and I feared for that to happen. I knew that it was unlikely that someone would kill so soon though. We had just seen one of our friends getting executed because of murder and everyone who wasn't a complete mess in the mind would hesitate now. It was to assume that both girls were safe.

"I just can't believe this really happened," Tokaku murmured, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "It wasn't just a nightmare, right?" "No, it wasn't," Reece replied, clenching his fists. "This is just sick!"

"I really...didn't think they were serious about this," Marilyn said. She looked disturbed, not as lively as usual but that was only natural in this situation. "I had hoped it was all just a bad prank… but it isn't."

Sandrine was sitting next to her like usually but without Alice she seemed even smaller. She hadn't said a word since her outburst yesterday but she looked incredibly sad and lonely with a nervous flicker in her eyes. I could imagine that her already fragile psyche had been seriously damaged by this incident.

"Let us not give up hope, everyone," Akira said. "After this we should all stick together even more, right?" "I guess, that's what the others would have wanted us to." Ari still looked sad but he tried to smile again.

Tani didn't look as convinced. "Stick together, huh? So someone can betray us again? Do you wanna feel that again?" Reece banged his fist on the table. "Of course not! We should all look for a way to escape even more! There needs to be a way somewhere!"

"I say, it's all this bastard Monokuma's fault!" Hachiku growled. "Let's find this little piece of crap and bash it up. I've enough of this!" "You should better not," I tried to warn him but he interrupted me with a glare. "If you're too chicken for that, then shut up!" But before he could leave the room and actually put his plan into action, the door was opened and we all turned around to see Aviana entering.

She was panting a little but for some reason she actually smiled a bit. "You will never guess what I just discovered when I was jogging! The fences are gone!"

And again it was Aviana who brought us the good news. Still, it was hard to believe that we really were free now. It had to be one more of Monokuma's traps. But although we knew that, everyone was excited to go outside and see for themselves.

This time I decided to go together with Sandrine. She was the only one who apparently didn't care about seeing what was outside and so I thought it was better if someone took care of her. "Would you mind coming with me?" I asked with a smile and she shrugged, looking at her hands which were nervously clutching her camera. "Okay," she finally whispered.

I remembered how she had opened up a bit when we talked two days ago (really, just two days ago? It felt like ages…) but now she looked like she never wanted to say something again. It was such a pity that I had no idea how to cheer her up.

While we were walking outside I asked "You really have been good friends with Alice, haven't you?" She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "I miss him," she said with a somehow determined expression as if she prepared to hear my mocking. Instead I replied "I miss him, too. And I'm really sorry that he had to die. But this won't happen again! We won't lose any more friends, I promise."

To my surprise the girl glared at me. "Don't say that! How can you promise something like that so easily? We never know what will happen! There is no way we can say for sure that no one else will die!" She was very close to crying again.

"You are right," I said calmly. "I can't promise that no one will die. But I can promise that I will try my best to make sure you won't be harmed." Sandrine blushed a bit now and then she just shrugged it off, looking at her hands again. My, this girl really was a weird mixture of emotions. But I really didn't want her to be hurt any more. Silently we continued our walk.

It was truly amazing how there weren't any traces of the fences left. I couldn't even say for sure where exactly they used to be. We had passed several houses and small streets now when we finally approached something that looked like a giant mall. "Oh, can we go inside?" Sandrine asked and somehow I could imagine her saying that a lot when she was doing her travels through the world.

Of course we entered the mall. It looked nice from inside, with several shops and cafés and a giant fountain in the centre. If only there hadn't been a golden figure of Monokuma in the fountain…

Sandrine seemed to be fascinated by the amount of clothes shops. "We should do some shopping later!" she said with a new sparkle in her eyes. Walking around in clothes shops was one of the most boring activities I could imagine (I was more the type of person who would always wear the same things) but it was nice to hear a bit of hope in Sandrine's voice and see her face lighting up.

It was amazing how many clothes shops were here. There was literally everything from plain jeans to suits and gowns. Sandrine blushed when she discovered a shop for teasing lingerie and smiled widely when she found swimwear in the sports department. "It's too bad we don't have a swimming pool here," she sighed. "I'd love to go swimming..."

Once we left the shops Vivienne crossed our path, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "That's just great, they have the latest collection here! And even my favourite brands!" Apparently she was completely in her element.

Sandrine discovered a book store and her smile increased while she quickly looked around. It looked like she loved to read as well and I could easily imagine her spending all her time here now. But it really was incredible what kind of shops were here. 'The finest chocolate' and other sweet shops as well as stores for animal food. Shops for electronic devices (it looked like Akira had found a new home as well) and shops for hiking gear (Aviana picked up a lot of things which could be useful for future exploring as she said). I got a bit sad to see stores selling musical instruments as I was thinking of Alice and even more annoyed when I saw a shop selling Monokuma-plushies and other memorabilia of that kind. Even Sandrine who loved to buy such stuff didn't pay this store any attention.

More unsettling was the next store we found as it was selling all kinds of weapons. Artyom was standing there, patting a riffle. "We should be careful here," he said seriously. "These weapons could be a real danger in the wrong hands." Here, Sandrine's happy expression turned a bit darker again.

When we all gathered in the dining room again (Panini was still missing though) it turned out that no one found a way outside. The old fences were gone but there were some new ones. It looked like the area we could access had just become a bit larger. Also, besides the giant mall there seemed to be no other interesting new places.

In the shop for electronic devices Akira had found some mobile phones we could use but it was impossible to reach a telephone network from outside this village so they weren't of much help.

Also no one found a shop which sold poison which was a bit of a relief after what happened to Alice.

As for the weapons we decided that no one should take them without saying so and Marilyn promised to make a list of everything there to make sure nothing would suddenly vanish. Still, we felt a bit bad about them but Monokuma forbid to destroy any school possessions and for some reasons the weapons counted as such. We could just hope that nothing would happen…

 **Your reviews would make my day and if you haven't yet, please don't forget to vote!**


	18. New neighbourhood: Chapter II

**I am very sorry for the long break. Sure, this is still going. I'm on vacation, that's the reason it takes me so long to continue.**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed! And the next chapter is a bit longer again, so I hope you enjoy it!**

The next morning we all had recovered a bit more from the horror we had seen. The mall didn't make us forget about our dead friends but it reminded us of how life could be and everyone was grateful to get into some normality again. Well, as normal as our situation could be of course.

I honestly felt relieved when Panini turned up this morning at breakfast. She looked like always, only were her eyes a bit darker and there were some new colour spots on her apron. "I needed some time to… think about what happened," she explained. "I wanted to honour our friends somehow...so I made these." And then she showed us her two new paintings. One showing Alice with sparkling eyes, he was probably talking about something music-related. And the other showed Amelia winking at us, with a wand in hands.

"They...are wonderful," Ari said with a scratchy voice. The others nodded and we decided to stick them to the doors of our dead classmates. Panini looked unusually shy. "And I have a request," she said before she straightened herself. "Please don't kill! I couldn't bare to see any of you get executed like that again I never want that to happen again!" She wiped some tears of her face and repeated "So, please don't kill!"

"Of course we won't," Reece agreed and Tokaku quickly hugged the smaller girl. "Yes, don't you worry. We won't kill."

After that promise we all seemed to feel a bit better and everyone went their way to spent the day however they liked it. I decided to go and speak with Hachiku, something I hadn't done yet, basically because he avoided me. He had never been easy to get along with but after what happened two days ago I had the feeling the others avoided him more. Except for Aviana and Tokaku which was a bit surprising and Daichi who probably tried to study Hachiku. It would have been a shame if only Daichi completed his studies, so I went after Hachiku who had made his way into the kitchen.

"Hello there," I tried to greet him as friendly as possible. "What are you doing?" At first it looked like he wanted to ignore me but then he growled "I'm preparing some protein shakes. That's none of your business though." Right, he looked like he would drink a lot of protein shakes. Not that I knew much about that stuff.

Since I didn't go away again Hachiku turned around to glare at me and asked "What do you want?" "I just thought we could spend some time together," I said, ignoring his threatening behaviour. "To get to know each other better." "Do you think I'm a sissy?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What? No. I..." He didn't even let me finish my sentence. "Two guys hanging around talking, that's just gay. Now, get lost." It really wasn't easy to talk to him. I wondered why he was so worried about this gay-thing. Or was that just a silly excuse why he didn't want to be around me? But it wasn't just me, he tried to avoid all males here. Well, I wouldn't give up so easily.

"I never said I wanted to talk," I said, crossing my arms. "We could just go jogging or something." At least I knew that he liked to do that. He gave me a doubtful look and then nodded. "You really are a little pest. Fine, okay, but don't you annoy me."

My happiness about being able to convince him to do something together quickly turned into regret. I must have been crazy to make this suggestion. Hachiku didn't just jog, he would run lap after lap on the empty streets around our hostel without any problems and I could easily imagine him doing that the entire day. I had no idea how much time had passed though when I finally just couldn't force myself to continue any longer. Feeling like I would collapse any second I tried to catch my breath while Hachiku was watching me with mockingly crossed arms.

"You're already exhausted from that? That was just a bit walking. If you tried to do the extreme sports I do..."

I tried to compose myself. "So, you...like...extreme...sports?"

Hachiku nodded. "Of course. Though they're no problem for me at all. So, it's pretty boring here, man, I'd love to climb or swim."

"Sandrine also said she liked to have a pool here," I said and he finally smiled. "That would be great, swimming is perfect. And I'd love to see the girls in bikinis. Hah, they would all totally fall for my muscles."

He seemed to be very confident of that and I used the opportunity while he was in a good mood, imagining pretty girls admiring his body, to ask "How did you get into mining then? Why didn't you become a swimmer?"

His expression darkened. "Hey, mining is for real men, you know. It's hard work underground, dangerous, too. And I already started it when I was ten."

"That is very young," I said in surprise, making him laugh. "Sure, but no problem for me. The older I got the higher positions I got. You can call me the Ultimate Miner for sure." He really looked proud about it but didn't want to say another word about it. Instead he advised me to stop panting like a dying dog, man up and run some more laps.

After some more felt hours of agony Tokaku saved me. She waved at us and Hachiku immediately changed his way, smiling at her. "Hey, babe." He always acted like a totally different person when there was a girl around. Tokaku paid no attention to this and just eyed me worriedly. "Lewis, are you alright? You don't look so good."

 _Well, Hachiku, muscles are one way to get a girl's attention. Being pitiful is another. Not that I'm proud of that..._

"I'm fine," I managed to say. "Just not...used to...this." Concerned about my health my parents always kept me away from anything that could exhaust me too much. Sometimes they really had been exaggerating in their worries and I clearly regretted that now.

Hachiku stepped forward, gently touching Tokaku's shoulder and asked "How can we help a beauty such as you are?" I wondered if he still hadn't realised that Tokaku wasn't interested in boys. Or if he even cared about that.

Tokaku's smile returned. "I wanted to invite you guys! Marilyn has found a tavern in the new part of the village and we thought it would be nice if we all met there and had some fun this evening. We all could need some solace, right?" "Sounds good to me," Hachiku smiled back. And I just wished someone would carry me there.

Amazingly as it is we all met in the tavern this evening. The place was not very big and like the houses it had an old-fashioned atmosphere despite being very clean, without a trace of dust anywhere. Chairs were neatly arranged around some tables, there was a little stage, and a giant drink bar. And of course no one else than us was inside here.

Tokaku hopped onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. "Guys, I'm so glad everyone came! We should all just enjoy this evening, alright? I'm sure Ammy and Alice wouldn't have wanted us to give up on life. So, Alice, if you can hear this from wherever you are now: this is for you!"

And then she started to sing.

I couldn't understand a single word since it was in Japanese but I could feel the emotions in it. Tokaku had a wonderful voice, strong and soulful. With her long black hair flowing around her and the net-gloved hands firmly holding the microphone she looked just like a siren of ancient mythology.

No one dared to say a word and interrupt her singing. Even Vivienne looked touched as she had tears in her eyes. And then the song came to and end and Tokaku smiled at us.

"I don't know what to say… That was wonderful!" Panini looked really touched and Tokaku winked at her. "Thanks a lot, honey. I know my singing can be hypnotising." She giggled about this before she asked "Now then, should we take a look what the bar has to offer?"

Ari still had this depressed expression in his eyes and Marilyn approached him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think of a drinking competition?" she asked and Ari smiled slightly. "Alright, count me in." Marilyn grinned dangerously. "You know you should better not underestimate me. I could have beaten the entire Red Army." Finally there was some fire in Ari's eyes again. "Then bring it on, girl!"

I had the feeling some people wouldn't act very responsible this evening. At least Panini said "But Akira shouldn't be drinking." "Don't you worry," the boy responded. "I have no intention of endangering my health." "Aw, you're such a cutie!" Panini replied, hugging him.

While everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, I approached Daichi. There still was something I had to make clear. I had decided to be blunt and so I said "You were the one with the peanuts, right?"

His expression didn't differ but he immediately got what I was talking about. "What makes you think so?"

"Everyone's expressions," I explained. "I had been prepared for it, I observed everyone's reactions when I told them and no one seemed to feel guilty. Neither that morning nor at the Trial. And I can only think of one person who can hide his feelings so perfectly. Plus I wondered about the motive. If someone had been so desperate that he actually tried to kill, he probably would have tried it another time. But that didn't happen until Monokuma gave us a motive. So I thought this person's intention hadn't been killing and that made me think of you."

Daichi nodded slowly. "Well then, you're right. I had wondered how long it would take you to figure this out." I smiled. "Would you tell me your motivation then? You didn't really want to kill me, did you?"

"Actually not," Daichi responded. "I thought you had lied when you told us about your allergy. But I couldn't be sure, I had no proof. Though I didn't think you were so naive that you just told us such a weakness after we had been told to kill each other. Also, in this situation it had been completely unnecessary for you to tell us something like that. It would have been enough to say that you disliked chocolate and no one would have asked a question. That made me feel that you told us such a detail with a certain purpose.

So, I wanted to make sure you had lied about it and see how you would react to that. If I had been wrong, well, it had been your fault for just revealing your weakness. Plus it probably would have been a really good murder. But like I said, I didn't think you told us the truth."

"I am so obvious?" I asked and he shrugged without revealing any thoughts. "I am the Ultimate Psychologist," he just said.

By now Tokaku and Vivienne had entered the stage together, singing some duet. It was fascinating to see Vivienne interacting so happily with others, probably she was nicer when she had drunk a bit. And those two just looked like an amazing duo of black and white together.

Daichi had already started to take notes again and I decided that I would leave him alone. I had no intention to join the drinking, I wanted to be able to keep observing. That's why I went over to Akira who sat at a table, playing with a gaming console he probably had brought from the electronic store.

"Hello there," I sat, sitting down next to him. "You're not bored, are you?"

He smiled at me. "No, I am not, thank you. I found so many games I haven't tried yet." I watched him playing but it soon became obvious that the games wouldn't last long for him. He had tried all kinds of games but I could see that he liked especially those where you had to think a lot. Albeit he solved any puzzle in a minimum of time. It was truly amazing to watch him doing it, no surprise he could attend this school despite his young age.

"I wanted to thank you," I finally said. "Because of the Trial. Without your help it would have been so much more difficult to solve it." Akira looked happy. "I am just so glad my talent could be of good help once."

"You're not feeling guilty because of Ammy?" I asked, remembering how Panini had confessed her remorse. "I didn't want Ammy to die," Akira replied seriously. "But she had wanted to kill and we can't just forgive this. Although it had been horrible to see a cheerful girl like her fall into despair. I truly wish it will never happen again." He seemed to be determined about that and as he looked around to see all the others enjoying themselves something glowed in his blue eyes which could only be called Hope.

I had always wanted to ask him about it and now I used the opportunity. "How come you decided to attend Hope's Peak Academy? Without a doubt you have the talent for it but it must be hard for you to go to school so far away from home. Especially in another country. And the original Hope's Peak Academy is in your home country, so why did you decide to come here?"

"Are you so surprised because of my age?" Akira asked. "I never thought it would be hard for me. I was really excited to travel to Europe and learn there. School never had been difficult to me so I wanted to see something new like another country. Some of my buddies even talk in English now."

"Your...buddies?" I asked and he explained "The voices I can hear. I call them buddies since they always help me out."

"Aren't they a burden?" I wanted to know, looking at his pale face with the dark rings under his eyes.

Akira shook his head. "No. In fact they always help me. There is this one certain voice that has always given me instructions if I was lost, corrected my mistakes, and helped overall! I don't know what I would do with them gone. Even when the other children said they didn't want to have a crazy freak like me around, I was never alone. I could always talk to my eternal buddies, so I was never bored."

"That...actually sounds pretty nice," I said, almost a bit envious. I would have loved to have someone talking to me in lonely times.

Akira nodded with a smile. "It is. I even found my talent because of my buddies. They helped me out in school so I always was quickly done with all my work and could spend some time with the computers there."

Just then a white high-heeled shoe landed on our table, making both of us flinch. "Sorry, guys," I heard a laughing voice. Vivienne was still standing on the stage, both of her shoes kicked off, one laying next to her gloves and scarf on the ground. Right now she was unbuttoning her dress shirt while giggling like crazy. Hachiku, Reece and Tokaku enthusiastically cheered her on.

This made me look around to see what the others were doing.

Panini, Sandrine and Aviana were sitting together. The usual quiet little Explorer girl was now vividly talking, her eyes were sparkling as she gestured and told stories. Both the other girls were laughing, obviously enjoying their talk. It was a rare but nice sight.

Artyom on the other hand didn't look happy at all, I couldn't understand what he was saying but he was obviously crying into Tani's shoulder who softly patted his head, looking clearly unable to cope with the situation.

Daichi was talking to Jason who didn't look happy about being interrogated like this but didn't dare to complain. And Marilyn and Ari still had their competition which started to worry me.

Just then a monitor above the stage turned on and Monokuma grinned down at us. "It's 10 p.m. now! Nighttime! Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite you!"

"Oh no, you're such a kill-joy!" Vivienne complained but giggled again when Hachiku helped her down from the stage. I quickly gave her the missing shoe back and she almost hugged me in joy. _There are people who shouldn't drink much._

Marilyn sighed and got up, nearly stumbling over a bottle next to her feet. "Let's call it a draw, alright?" she asked. Ari nodded and slurred "Draw? Sure, yeah, I win!" before he burst into uncontrolled laughter.

"Someone should better carry him to his room," Daichi said, ever so serious and Jason quickly consented to help. Somehow everyone made their way back to the hostel and while I listened to the loud voices of the others I thought about how unique all of them were. On evenings like this it was difficult to imagine another murder.

 **Your reviews keep me writing, so don't forget them!**


	19. New neighbourhood: Chapter III

**Thanks for your reviews, dear readers!**

 **RubyLeo: That makes me happy! And concerning the crush, we will see, haha.**

 **CGStrykerz: I'm so glad you liked Akira's interaction!**

 **WendyDokuro: Ah, I wouldn't do a similar murder to the originals, that would be boring. ;) We'll soon find out!**

 **Guest: Thank you a lot! Hope you keep enjoying.**

"There is something important we should do."

After we had finished breakfast this morning Daichi had something to say. Usually he was more like a quiet observer who would only offer advise if needed, so I was curious what he wanted to tell us now.

"I thought about how Amelia was able to actually kill." This was cruel now, we just had recovered from what happened and now Daichi had to remind us of it again. "It was because she found this poison in the store room. That made me think that it is quite dangerous for us not knowing what is inside there. It would be safer for all of us if we checked everything there and disposed any possible dangerous objects. Any volunteers?"

"I would do," Aviana offered immediately. No one else did. Some probably were still hangover and others could just think of a nicer activity than searching dusty cartons for possible dangerous items. "It was your idea, Daichi," I said, "so..." "Nice, Lewis," he interrupted me. "You can help Aviana." What? What was he planning now? Anyway, I just smiled and nodded. "All right."

And so Aviana and I made our way upstairs to the store room. She was quiet as usual and so I tried to start a conversation. "So, why did you want to search the store room?"

"I'd really like to see what we can find there," she explained. "I thought I'm good for this job, I usually discover a lot of things." _Ultimate Explorer, of course._

I was glad I had her with me, there was so much junk in here, it would need hours or days to look through all it. This made me wonder for which purpose this was here. Why did Monokuma want us to see all these things? Was it some kind of riddle we had to solve? Or was it really just for giving us tools to kill? I had no clue.

We decided to start with the piles in the corners of the room and then work through them until we would meet in the middle. Aviana started on the left side, rifling through a bunch of old clothes. I went to the right side, opening a large carton, the first on a pile of cartons. I found something that looked like a microscope but it was obviously broken, with some parts of it missing. Next I found some kinds of rusty mousetraps and I wondered if I should give them to Reece. Then I discovered something that had to be an old radio though I doubted that it would ever work again. Really, all I found was junk.

I looked over to see if Aviana had discovered anything and found her reading. "What do you have there?" I asked, slowly approaching her and she showed me a little book. "It's a travel book, someone's describing his journey through Japan."

"I wonder if that has any meaning. Have you ever been to Japan?" I asked and she shook her head. "Unfortunately no. But I would love to go there someday! Japan's culture is so fascinating, I would love to see how the people there are. It would be best to be there at holidays, it must be amazing when they are celebrated! I would love to be there when the cherry blossoms bloom. And the houses and temples! There should be some ancient buildings and maybe I could discover something new! Plus, the landscape must be beautiful, I saw great photos! Then I would love to eat Japanese food, Tokaku already taught me some recipes."

It was fascinating to see someone as quiet as Aviana suddenly getting so lively. "You really like Japan, do you?" I asked and she smiled. "Oh, it's not just Japan. I love other countries in general! There is so much to discover! Hey, do you think it's okay for me to keep this book?"

"It could hardly be a weapon so I wouldn't mind," I answered and she carefully put it into her backpack. "There are a lot of books here," she explained. "Did you find anything so far? I mean, something interesting?"

"No, just some broken things." I went over to my pile to continue my search, there were still a lot of cartons which wanted to be opened. The next one showed me a great collection of various Monokuma action figures and while I checked if they hid any kinds of weapons Aviana just found another great book for her. She really was lucky in this.

"It's about myths and lore in Ireland," she explained with sparkling eyes. "And there are even more, some about black magic."

"You like fantasy?" I asked, making her shake her head. "This is not fantasy! It's mystery because you don't know what is true, what is really happening! You know, I love everything supernatural. You see here, reports of people who actually saw something supernatural happening. I read a lot about that at home already but it looks like there are some new things here. Oh, this is great!"

She looked like she had totally forgotten about our situation and I didn't want to remember her of it. Instead I asked "And, do you believe in it?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "But it's really exciting! I don't know if supernatural things can actually happen but it would be so cool to discover a proof for it. I'd love to do that." And then she confessed "When I was young I really believed into it. I even wanted to become a Demon Hunter." She shrugged. "Maybe I should ask Tokaku if she could teach me something about hypnotism."

"I am sure she would do that," I said. "Tokaku is really nice." "I know," Aviana said and blushed.

We continued our search, Aviana finding a beetle collection (she seemed to be interested by that) and some dolls with human hair, bloody red lips and empty glass eyes (she was absolutely horrified by them). I found another carton with rusty handcuffs inside and some suspicious looking syringes, plus a calendar with pictures of beautiful landscapes I gave to Aviana.

"So beautiful!" she said in awe and I thought that she would love travelling around the world just like Sandrine did. She probably didn't have the money for it since Sandrine was only able to travel so much because of her parents' wealth. "Does your family like travelling, too?" I asked and her expression suddenly darkened. "I don't want to talk about them," she said evasively.

Before I could ask some more someone else entered the room. "Hey, you guys," Panini said with a smile, Jason next to her. "We're the relay!" "D-did you find anything d-dangerous?" Jason asked and we quickly told them about our discoveries.

After we left the room I asked Aviana if she would mind to go for a walk with me. Now that she had opened up it would be a shame not to continue our talk. She looked a bit surprised but eventually agreed.

The day was as beautiful as those before, sunny and warm and Aviana looked happy to be outside. We had no particular destination we wanted to go to, so we just walked around. Once more I realised how fragile Aviana looked, her head was barely reaching my shoulders and although I knew she was older she looked like a child. "How do you think we can escape from here?" I asked her after some time of silence.

"Not by killing," she answered and then thought for a moment. "There needs to be a way to escape from here. I usually go around and look for hidden exits or something like that."

"Then don't let me stop you," I said. "Where would you go and look?"

Apparently she had planned to climb on the roof of the mall. "I should be able to see where all the fences are and what's behind them," she explained as soon as we came near the mall. Apparently there was no way to get to the roof from inside and so she really had to climb up the entire building.

"That looks dangerous," I said but Aviana just smiled. "Oh, don't worry, I won't fall down. I never do."

But before she could prove that we heard the sound of a Monokuma announcement though we couldn't see the bear since there was no monitor outside here. "All students are supposed to gather in the living room, like immediately" he proclaimed and we knew we should better go there.

Once all of us made their way to the room Monokuma climbed out of the drawer, just like he did before. "Hello, hello," he greeted us cheerfully. "You know what? I have another motive prepared for you!"

"What?!" Reece asked in shock and Panini whispered with tears in her eyes "But we have just recovered from the last one..." "I don't want this again!" Vivienne yelled and it was Marilyn who stepped forward to say "Everybody, calm down! We won't fall for this again!"

"What is it this time?" Daichi asked more calm, making Monokuma giggle in excitement. "Every student dreams of having a pet, right?" I doubted that, I used to have a rabbit and that didn't turn out well.

"Well, here is your pet!" Monokuma exclaimed. "It's my present for you!"

With this the door suddenly opened and there was a dog standing there. I seriously had no idea where he had come from. But this animal was huge, I'm sure I never saw such a giant dog before. He eyed us growling and then started to bark, making some of the others flinch.

"Just so you know, he has rabies," Monokuma casually added. "Don't let him bite ya!"

"What the hell?!" Vivienne screamed, taking a step back. "Artyom, shoot it!"

The hunter just shook his head. "I don't have a gun. Just stay calm, we can handle this." We others just stared at the dog who looked like he wanted to jump at us any second.

Monokuma was obviously enjoying himself. "Oh, no, no! You can't shoot him! If someone harms the poor animal he will get executed immediately. So, I will let you take care of him until someone of you is dead."

"Why are you doing this?!" Panini wanted to know but the bear didn't respond and just went back to his drawer. "All right, the most important question right now," Reece said nervously. "How are we supposed to get out of the room when it blocks the door?"

Hachiku clenched his fists. "Just let me handle this!" "Didn't you listen, stupid fathead?" Marilyn asked. "We can't harm it!"

"Maybe Tokaku could hypnotise it?" Panini suggested and the black-haired girl bit her lip. "I could try it..." "Just be careful!" Artyom added.

We all watched nervously as the girl slowly approached the dog, one hand in the air, using the other to pull out a long gold chain with a ruby on it. "I never tried this on animals," she murmured. Her hands were shaking slightly as she bent forward to show the slowly swinging ruby to the dog. It started to growl again and before Tokaku could do anything else it snapped at her.

With a little scream the girl backed away and before the dog could actually jump at her something hit its head. It was Aviana who had quickly thrown the first thing she could get her hands on (it looked like a compass). The dog turned away from Tokaku, only to watch the rest of us with glowing eyes and its angry growling showed that it was ready to attack any second.

"Alright, enough of this!" Ari had stepped forward, holding something in his hand which first looked like a silver stick to me. As soon as he switched it on I realised that it actually was a giant lighter. "Now get outta our way or you'll taste Flamey!" And with this he swung his lighter, making the flame at its tip dance around wildly.

It almost looked as if the flame was alive. A hungry creature, ready to devour and destroy. It was lurking there, wanting to make everything perish in red until nothing remained but bones and ashes. I could see it as clearly as I could feel the heat on my skin.

And then someone grabbed my hand, pulling me with them. Just then I realised that the dog had backed away from the lighter which Ari hold like a sword. Everyone else had started to run away, Marilyn carrying Sandrine who had fainted once again. Somehow we all made our way to the sleeping rooms where we stopped in the hallway. Panini let go of my hand and looked back with big worried eyes. "Did it follow us?" she asked. There was no trace of the dog, yet no one dared to look at the end of the stairs.

"We should be safe in our rooms," Reece said nervously. "Then everyone should go there and keep calm," Daichi advised us and soon everyone had went away. Ari had put his lighter back into his pocket but I still had the feeling he was dangerous and could only breathe easily when he had gone to his room.

"There is no need to worry," Panini said to me. "I'm here!" It was just adorable how she tried to hide her own fears. Just the imagination of her getting attacked by the dog…

"Thank you," I said with a smile. "There is no need to worry for you either. Just stay in your room safely." Apparently I sounded confident enough for her to get her smile back and leave for her room. Yet inside I wondered how we should overcome this?

 **As always please review!**

 **And I try to be faster again.**


	20. New neighbourhood: Chapter IV

**Thanks again for your nice reviews and I'm glad you like the motive!**

 **Daichi Yamazaki: Thank you so much and I'm glad you got to like Aviana more!**

 **RubyLeo: I totally agree that Panini is just adorable! Well, we will see, we will see...**

 **WendyDokuro: Thank you and I'm very glad you liked her freetime event, it was much fun to write! It's truly a very problematic motive though it will get even worse.**

I was almost surprised when I woke up the next morning and didn't find the dog drooling next to me. As I made my way to the dining room I couldn't see a trace of it and apparently no one else had a problem of coming there. Everyone looked like they hadn't slept much last night, though. Still, it was much better than after the last motive Monokuma had given us and at least no one appeared to be sick this time. As usually Ari was the last one to arrive and I was more than glad that he wasn't playing aroud with one of his lighters.

"Has anyone seen it this morning?" he asked and we all knew he meant the dog. Unfortunately no one had any idea where it could be and that was probably even more frightening than being confronted with it. "Maybe it sleeps?" Tokaku suggested with hope in her voice. "Last night I could hear it scratching at my door all the time..." She shuddered and I wondered if she actually had heard the dog or if it had been her frightened mind playing tricks on her.

"Maybe someone should go and look for it," Aviana said quitely and then with a bit more of confidence in her voice she added "I could do it." _She appears to be so shy but sometimes she really shows bravery._

"I'd better accompany you," Hachiku said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Wouldn't want that beast to attack a sweetie like you." "Oh, please be careful," Panini said worriedly. I wondered if Hachiku remembered the rule that it was forbidden to harm the dog but I wouldn't say that out loud. Sure Aviana would remind him of it. _Or would she?_

After the two had left Ari asked "And what should we do now? Guess, it's impossible to always scare it away with fire..."

"Maybe we can heal the poor dog," Panini said. "If it's sick there should be a way to heal it, right?" Tani rolled her eyes. "Sure, unfortunately we don't have the Ultimate Vet with us. And we don't have any medicines." That was right, even the giant mall didn't offer any pharmacies.

"We should take care that no one gets infected," Vivienne said with a frown. "I don't want to be around sick people."

"Yes, if anyone gets wounded or just licked by the dog they should better tell immediately," Daichi calmly added.

"Sounds a bit like a zombie invasion," Artyom said with a little smile. "Everyone who gets infected turns into a monster." "That's not funny!" Tani reproached him. "We're in serious danger here."

Marilyn had been blankly gazing into space but now she blinked and asked "Did you know that in old times it was often thought that rabid people were werewolves? After they had been bitten by a wild animal they turned mad and started to bite and flail and..."

"Stop it!" Sandrine screeched, her face even paler than usual. "Yes, stop those creepy stories!" Tani demanded. "Artyom, you sure know about cases like that. What should we do?"

The boy just shrugged. "Sure but when we can't harm it we should just avoid it and don't panic. It won't take long until the dog dies anyway."

"That's actually kinda sad," Panini said, thoughtfully holding her chin in her hand and Tani glared at her. "Don't do anything stupid! Artyom's right, we should just leave it be. I take my leave." And with that she got up and left us, apparently still not really enjoying our company.

The rest of us quietly finished our breakfast before everyone went their way. Just then Reece approached me and asked "Can you do me a little favour?" I observed him carefully and then nodded. "Of course. What is it?" I had noticed before that Reece had been very quiet this morning as if he was thinking about something. "Could you come to the mall this afternoon?" he asked. "Around three o'clock maybe?"

"Sure," I replied. "Why?" He hesitated for a moment before he said "I have a great plan, you'll see!" Well, I wouldn't insist although his words made me curious. I watched him leave to his room and then thought about what I should do until then. I certainly didn't want to meet the dog but I also wanted to know what the others were doing in this situation. Maybe I should go to the living room and see if someone would be there?

I went down the staircase without seeing the dog but also without meeting anyone else. I guessed most of them had gone back to their rooms, hoping to be safe inside there, and I had no idea where Hachiku and Aviana were going to look. Maybe on top of the roof.

Just when I wanted to open the door to the living room I could hear voices talking inside.

"Have you looked inside the atelier? I don't want to be surprised by it." That was Tokaku, obviously talking about the dog and it was Panini who answered "Sure. It would be too bad if it ate my paint tubes. I don't think that would be good for its health."

Tokaku giggled. "You're so cute! You know, I really like you, Nini." The other girl giggled as well. "Oh, thanks! I really like you, too! I'm so glad we're friends!"

"Well, actually I like you more than just a friend," Tokaku confessed and then there was a somehow awkward silence. I knew I should enter the room or even better just go away but I didn't move, I was too curious what Panini would answer.

"Oh," she said. "Oh, I'm sorry, Tokaku. I really like you but I'm not into this. Let's just be friends, okay?" "Alright," Tokaku said but she was barely able to hide her disappointment.

Just then I heard the clicking of high heels and the next moment Vivienne approached me. "What are you doing there near the door?" she asked, fanning herself as always. "Scared to go inside?"

I quickly went over to her. "No, I just heard Panini and Tokaku talking in this room and I thought I should better not disturb them."

Vivienne's eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh, really? What were they talking about?"

"I probably shouldn't talk about them," I replied, causing Vivienne to snap her fan shut and grabbing me by the shoulders. "Tell me!" she demanded. "Come on, I want to know! Or should I tell them you were eavesdropping?"

My, she could be forceful. And I had the feeling everyone in the hostel would hear her if she talked any louder, so I quickly said "All right, all right. But let's go somewhere else." She smiled in triumph, starting to fan herself again.

"So?" she asked as soon as we had left the hostel. "Did they confess? Are they a couple now?" "Apparently they don't share the same feelings," I replied and she smiled triumphantly. "So Panini rejected her. Just like I expected! Do you think she likes someone else?"

"I have no idea," I said, not quite sure why we were talking about this. It was always interesting to watch how people behaved whenever they were affected by love. Yet, I didn't think Vivienne was interested in these psychologic aspects.

Now she looked disappointed. "Maybe I should ask someone else then," she said and turned around to go back to the hostel. "Wait!" I quickly held her back. "We could spend some time together, couldn't we?" Ever since we had our little chat after Ammy had doused her with paint I had wanted to learn more about her and this was finally a good opportunity for that.

Vivienne looked at me with arched eyebrows, probably to express her disdain but then she nodded. "All right, what did you have in mind?"

"Maybe going to the mall," I suggested since I had to meet Reece there later. She smiled mockingly. "Oh, you want me to buy you something? Don't think just because I'm rich I will buy you everything."

"I don't think it matters here if you're rich or not," I replied. "Or do you have any money with you? Is it hard to imagine that someone would like to spend time with you without wanting you to buy him something?" She quickly hid her face behind her fan but I had spotted surprise on her face. "Well...of-of course not!" she stammered before she cocked her head and proclaimed "All right, then let's go!"

While we were walking I asked "Don't your ankle hurt anymore?" She blushed slightly. "Apparently it wasn't hurt as badly as I thought." And after a little pause she asked "Do you think I'm spoiled now for complaining about it?"

"No," I reassured her. "It could have been seriously hurt after all. You should better tell what troubles you than trying to be brave. And I'm not just talking about injuries, if you're worried about something you can tell me anytime. I'm quite good at listening, that's my talent after all."

"Thanks," Vivienne just muttered, hiding again behind her fan.

And so we arrived at the mall. The girl went straight to a clothes shop on the second floor, proclaiming that this was her favourite brand. "I'm looking for new clothes," she explained, already examining a skirt. "I try a few and you tell me if they look good on me, okay? But be honest!"

She said 'a few' but I had the feeling she tried out every single piece of cloth the shop had to offer. Yet she actually seemed to have fun and that was something nice to see. Finally she had decided which dresses, skirts and whatever else she should take and I seriously wondered how she thought to get all of them back to her room. "Nice that you can get everything for free here, isn't it?" I asked and for a moment she looked surprised. "Actually I'm always buying so much," she said then. _Right, she was rich._

"I just love this summer's collection," she continued. "I just need the fitting jewellery now! I always wanted to have a necklace with a rose quartz pendent, they're so beautiful. I also really like rubies but then I would need different make-up and that's simply not my style."

"You care a lot about that, don't you?" I said and she nodded vigorously. "I love it! Someday I will have my very own fashion line, that's my dream!"

"Is that what your talk show is about?" I asked and she shook her head. "It's about fashion but also about other things. I just like to tell my opinion! And I had to do something to stand out from my three sisters, right?" She winked at me but I had the feeling there was more to it that she just didn't want to tell me by now.

"So, it was easy to get your own talkshow?" I asked and she nodded with this smug expression of hers. "I have a great knowledge about media. Plus I'm so rich I barely have any problems." I somehow doubted that but didn't say anything to not ruin her mood. Sooner or later she would tell me about it, I was sure about that.

When we came by a clock I noticed that it was already almost 3 pm. "I'm sorry," I said, "I promised Reece to meet him here. You can walk back alone?" "Of course I can!" she answered, rolling her eyes. "But I think I'll stay here a bit longer and look at the beauty shops. So… see you later, maybe!"

I watched her walk away before I turned around to go looking for Reece and hear about his 'great plan'. Hopefully the dog didn't have the same destination.

 **This is a rather short chapter, sorry. The next one will be quite long though.**


	21. New neighbourhood: Chapter V

**RubyLeo: My hundredth review, thank you! And it was so long, it really made me very happy! Yes, you were totally right there and you're really into this ship, aren't you? All right, I will include Vivi's opinion about that somewhere.**

 **WendyDokuro: I also always love your reviews, thank you! You sure will get to know that all, I promise.**

"I'm so glad you came," Reece greeted me with an excited grin when I approached him. He appeared like he had ran to the mall to be in time and now he waved some papers. "Look at this!"

He offered me one and I observed it carefully. Besides some scribblings, a burning and crying stick man and something that looked like a giant bumble bee I couldn't recognise much. So, this was his great plan?

"Nicely drawn," I said. "What is the meaning of this?" He frowned in confusion. "Man, that's the plan how to catch the dog of course! Can't you see? I thought about several traps but this is the absolute best!"

Oh, that was what he was on about. Well, it should have been obvious since he was the Ultimate Trapper. Still this drawing irritated me. "This is the dog, right?" I asked, pointing at the bumble bee. "Why does it have wings? Should that symbolise something?"

"Those aren't wings!" Reece protested. "Those are its ears. And this guy over there is me if you couldn't tell." "I got that!" I smiled. "And I got that you're crying because you're burning. But why are you burning? Is that a way to lure the dog there?"

"What the…? I'm not burning! That's my hair. And I have freckles in my face, not tears." He shook his head in annoyance. "Why are you so picky about the drawing? The plan itself is great. If we trap the dog it can't hurt any one of us and we won't be breaking the rules since we don't actually harm it."

"That is a really good idea!" I complimented him. "But why didn't you tell the others at breakfast?"

"Well, I didn't want them to get their hopes up as long as we don't know if it will actually work. It should be more like a great surprise to anyone."

 _Someone wants to prove his worth, it seems._ "Maybe you want to impress a certain someone?" I asked and had the feeling that he blushed a little bit. "Will you help me or not?" he asked instead and I nodded. "Of course. So, what should I do?"

He studied his drawing. "We need to get these things. Never mind, I get them, you won't recognise them anyway. You can go looking for a good place where we can dig a hole. Just call me then." He offered me a mobile phone he must have got from the mall.

I already knew a good place and so I could peacefully go there and wait for Reece. It was the little piece of ground near to the hostel where we had some earth, suitable for planting flowers. It would be easy to dig here. Still I had to ask "Don't you think a pit trap would be too easy? It would take some time to make it deep enough and if it's too deep the dog could hurt himself. I'm not sure what counts as 'harming'."

"Don't worry, this won't be a pit trap," Reece grinned. "That's way too simple. We'll use strings."

While he worked out something with the ropes, strings and knives he had brought I started to dig a hole. Thankfully the hole wasn't supposed to be very deep and the earth wasn't very hard either. "You know," I said during our work, watching him carefully. "Ammy had told me that she had wanted to lay out a garden and she had wanted it to be here."

Reece's expression hardened. "I wished she had done that," he finally said. Then he hopped into the hole and started to install his trap.

"So, you just needed me for helping you digging?" I asked after he was done with all the work. It surprised me a bit since he could have asked anyone for that and there sure were stronger people than me.

"Not exactly," Reece said, scratching his head. "I actually wanted to ask you for something else and you know, the others could get the wrong idea, plus I couldn't ask the girls, that would have been inappropriate, they'd think I'm into bondage or something..."

"What?" I just asked.

"Could you test the trap for me?" he asked. "I mean, I'm the Ultimate Trapper but usually I just catch squirrels and small rodents like them. And this dog is huge! I just want to make sure that my trap works. Don't worry, it wouldn't hurt you."

I could hear Daichi's voice in my head, talking about naïveté. Yet I was sure I would have noticed if Reece had anything in mind and decided that he was trustworthy. "All right," I said and he smiled relieved. "Thanks, mate. I knew you would understand. Just step down there."

I jumped down and as soon as my feet touched the ground the trap activated. The ropes tightened around my feet, making me stumble and fall down on my knees, where my hands got tied up to the ground as well. I had no idea how that even worked but it must be the power of Reece's ultimate Talent.

When I tried to free myself the ropes just tightened even more. All in all I felt pretty stupid down there and was quite glad that no one else appeared. "It looks like the trap works," I commented.

"That's great." Reece looked triumphantly. Before he could say any more we heard the familiar Ding-dang-dong sound of a Monokuma announcement and although we couldn't see him I could imagine his sinister smile very well. Could it be…?

"Attention, students! Two of you have been very naughty! Let's all meet in the living room and laugh about them!"

"Very naughty?" Reece's eyes lit up. "Do you think the same as I do?" he asked, totally excited. It was obvious he wasn't thinking about anything related to killing each other. If I hadn't called out to him he would have run to the hostel, completely forgetting about me. "Could you please free me from this?" I asked and he quickly jumped down to me.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot." He pulled out a knife and with a simple cut I could move again. "Now that you cut it, it won't work any more," I said while he was throwing the ropes away. "No problem, I will make a new one. And that is not important now, come on!" And with that he really started to run to the hostel.

Everyone had indeed gathered there and it looked like they formed a circle around Tokaku and Aviana who were sitting on the sofa. The little girl had covered her face behind her hands, her hair for the first time falling loose over her shoulders.

"Are you hurt?" I could hear Panini's worried voice once I entered. "Did you break any rules? Monokuma said something about naughty, I got worried that he wants to punish you for something."

"No, we're fine," Tokaku reassured her with a slightly awkward smile. "Nothing happened. You didn't have to come at all."

"Really?" Vivienne asked with a spark in her eyes. "But why did Monokuma make this announcement then? And what's up with Aviana? We all want to know!"

"Monokuma just overexaggerated," Tokaku said. "We just went shopping to get some make-up for Avi. Because she admired mine," here she touched her own black-painted lips, "and we just wanted to try it out. And geez… she just looked so adorable with that lipstick I had to give her a little kiss."

"I see, I see," Ari said with a knowing smirk. "So, that's what the Ultimate Explorer likes to explore?"

Although we couldn't see her face I was sure that Aviana turned red right now. Tokaku quickly defended her. "Cut it out! It was just a completely innocent little kiss."

"Oh, can I get a completely innocent kiss, too?" Ari asked grinning and Tokaku rolled her eyes. "You can get a completely innocent slap in the face if you insist."

Ari just laughed about that and I could see Artyom grin as well although he tried to hide it. Panini looked around in confusion and then said "Well, a kiss between friends is nothing to be embarrassed about, right? It's great that you're such good friends! I don't know what Monokuma meant."

"And I don't understand why we're all here," Tani said annoyed. "This is pointless." She wanted to walk away again but Tokaku held her back. "Wait. I just got a great idea. Since we're all gathered here already, why don't we girls spend some time together? I think a girl's evening would be fun!" She was really good at changing the topic.

Until now Marilyn hadn't looked like she would even listen to the conversation but now she smiled enthusiastically. "Sounds fun! Right?" She put her arm around an as usual nervous looking Sandrine who nodded timidly.

Panini clapped her hands. "Great idea! That will be so much fun! Oh, please, Tani, you have to stay with us!" The brown-haired girl sighed but for some reason she stayed.

"And we're not invited?" Ari asked disappointed, making Tokaku glare at him. "No boys! It's time that we ladies talk about some things without any of you around."

And just like that we all got kicked out of the living room. "Maybe we could do something together as well?" Akira suggested. "Like playing chess together?" Apparently he had found a chess game in the store room and was eager to play with it. Ari nodded immediately. "Sure, I'll win."

"Do you know how to play Chess?" Daichi asked mildly surprised and Ari just shrugged. "Can't be that difficult, right? I'm prepared for any challenge."

"I don't think that will work," Daichi just said. Apparently both he and Akira loved playing chess and of all our classmates those were the two I expected to be the smartest. A match between them would be amazing.

"Well, I'll be working on my plan," Reece excused himself and went away to probably finish the trap. I just hoped he made sure that no one would accidentally fall inside, it wasn't the nicest experience.

Hachiku also left, mumbling something about as being a bunch of faggots. No one paid him much attention since we were used to that by now.

The rest of us decided to go to the dining room where we had a table. While Akira and Daichi were arranging their playing pieces Ari approached me. "Hey, I'm sure you know how to play that, too." I had no idea why he was so sure about that but I nodded. "Yes, I do."

He smiled. "Can you teach me then?"

I didn't expect that at all. The thing was I really didn't like being around Ari and his lighters but I had no real explanation to refuse teaching him. So I just nodded once more.

Jason sat down to work on some drawings while Artyom watched us and polished his knife which was a bit unsettling. Akira and Daichi seemed to be in a draw, both of them acting carefully and not ready to sacrifice their playing pieces.

"All right, so if you want to start the match you should play white," I began my explanation. "And if you rather have your opponent start you should play black." "White," Ari said with determination.

I went on to explain how the pieces were called and how they could move. Once I was finished Artyom said "You know what? Those pieces remind me of us. A group of different people who have to fight. I would say the bishops are like these smart people who always find their way through some gaps. The rooks are those who are straightforward and always keep everyone together. And the knights are those who simply jump over all the obstacles and go their own weird ways."

"And then there is the Queen who is this one awesome girl who can do everything," Ari added. "Oh and the king, this one person who can't really do anything but is really important for some reason."

Artyom nodded. "And then there are the pawns who simply die."

"But there are only sixteen pieces," I reminded them. "And we used to be seventeen people."

"Maybe between those sixteen white pieces is one black piece," Artyom said and for a moment there was a somehow sinister silence. I tried to break it with a smile. "Guys, that's just symbolism. We're not really like chess pieces."

"Checkmate!" Akira smiled happily as he had cornered Daichi's king which made him look even younger. I wasn't sure if Daichi hadn't lost on purpose, you could never know with him. Anyway he just said calmly "You're an excellent player."

"Just because my buddies help me out," Akira explained and Ari said "Yeah, I know the rules now. So let's see if I can beat you." I hadn't even finished my explanations but he was really into a challenge. _I knew he_ _i_ _s strange_.

But before they could start a match that Akira would have won any way, we heard the screaming back from the living room. To our surprise it was Jason who reacted first. "W-we should g-go!" he said, jumping to his feet. "The girls might be in d-danger!"

And so we all rushed down the stairs and stormed into the living room where we nearly knocked Tokaku down who apparently had just tried to leave the room. "I just wanted to get help," she explained. "Quick! It's the dog!"

As we entered I couldn't see any trace of Avi or Sandrine but Vivienne who stood pressed against the wall, holding her fan like a shield in front of her. And indeed, there was the dog. Growling and drooling it pressed Tani to the ground who desperately struggled to free herself and avoid getting bitten. Marilyn had grabbed the dog and tried to pull it away from the other girl but the dog was too big to care about her.

Panini was throwing paint brushes at the animal and screamed things like "Sit! Bad dog!" but of course it didn't listen to her, it only got angrier.

"Alright," Ari murmured, reached into his pocket and threw something in the direction of the dog. There was a bang and a bright light as the object exploded and the dog looked away from Tani as it was distracted by it. By now Artyom had drawn his knife and stepped towards the dog with a determined expression.

"No, you mustn't hurt it!" Tokaku screamed while the dog growled even deeper, saliva covering his jaws and I hoped that I was only imagining the red drops. "Don't worry, I won't hurt it too bad," Artyom replied and then he lunged at the dog.

I've never seen a fight like this before. Artyom was incredible, he easily avoided every attack of the dog, the hand with the knife moving so quick I could barely follow it with my eyes. And still he didn't do much more than shaving off some fur and showing the dog where its place was. Finally he kicked it right into the neck and with a whimper the dog crawled away. We quickly stepped aside to let it flee outside of the room.

"Wow, that was ripper," Ari commented.

"Oh, thank goodness," Tokaku said in relief. "It must have hid in the atelier without us knowing and when Nini wanted to go inside it just jumped us! Is everyone okay?"

I wanted to go to Tani but stopped at the sofa. Sandrine came creeping out from under it, a bit of dirt covering her dark hair. "Is it gone?" she asked worriedly and when I nodded she started to cry. "I'm so useless," she cried out, hiding her face behind her hands. "No, don't worry about it," I said reassuringly and glanced at Marilyn who quickly came over and hugged Sandrine to calm her down.

Meanwhile Tani had got to her feet again, hiding one arm behind her back and sighed. "Well, I should thank you," she said with a quiet voice.

"It's alright," Artyom replied. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Just let me go to my..." Before she could finish her sentence Artyom had grabbed the arm she had tried to hide and looked at it. We all could see the bite marks and everyone fell silent as we all knew what that meant. Tani's eyes slowly filled up with tears.

"I...I'm gonna get sick now, right?" she asked with a shaky voice. Artyom narrowed his eyes. "Don't you worry, I'll take care of it," he promised. "Someone get me some alcohol from the bar, quick!" Jason immediately turned around and started to run. "And we'll wash this immediately," he said, dragging Tani with him.

"Is this my fault?" Panini asked with wide eyes. "Of course not," Tokaku said but she still had her mouth covered with her hands in shock. "She will be alright again, right?"

No one knew an answer to that.

 **Finally I have this done, for some reason it took me a while.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it a bit and reviews would make me very happy!**


	22. New neighbourhood: Chapter VI

**FireDusk: Thanks for the review! Well, I'm sure Reece knows what he is doing…**

 **RubyLeo: Thank you, even if it's late. And I'm glad you liked it so much. They somehow kept Panini from trying to heal it and the other question will be answered later. Well, this wasn't faster than I ever have but I tried to be very quick. Regard this as a present.**

 **WendyDokuro: Thanks a lot! Yes, no romance with Monokuma around, hehe. I'm glad you liked the chess pieces scene, if we think more about it we see that only the king and one more piece have to 'survive' to win...not a nice imagination. I hope you enjoy, even though being scared. I don't even want to imagine being in this situation myself… Anyway, I'm glad to hear that, I'm always looking forward to read reviews.**

It was quite a relief that everyone was there at breakfast the next morning. Aviana had her hair tied to two ponytails again and looked like she had recovered from yesterday. "What happened?" she asked shyly, apparently noticing how everyone looked at Tani.

The Japanese girl just stared at the plate in front of her and refused to look up. Her one arm was bandaged by some cloth but she tried to hide it from our eyes.

"The dog attacked her," Artyom briefly explained. "But it should be alright. I washed and disinfected the wound and Tani said she is vaccinated against rabies. There is a really good chance that she doesn't get infected." He tried to sound like everything was fine but I wondered if Tani was really as safe as he said.

The others didn't look so sure as well. Only Panini asked "How do you feel?" "I'm fine," Tani murmured but she didn't eat anything and looked miserable. I could only imagine how she felt, it was like she was a time bomb as long as we couldn't be sure about her condition. It must be terrifying. And the others obviously tried to avoid looking at her as if they could become infected just by that.

After a long uncomfortable silence Tani finally stood up and said "I don't wanna be a danger to anyone." And with that she fled out of the room.

"No, wait!" Artyom quickly went after her and the rest of us fell silent again until Vivienne said "Well, she normally tries to avoid us, too. It's not much of a difference."

Before anyone could respond to that we heard a familiar growling and turned around to see the dog standing in the door. It looked worse than before, it had foam at its jaws and there was a maniac look in its eyes. With a painfully high pitched sound of a whimper it slowly approached us and no one dared to move until it jumped on the table, splashing its saliva all over it. With a scream Vivienne jumped to her feet, only to have the dog stare at her and she quickly froze again.

"Alright," Panini said with a shaking voice. "Look here, doggie! Maybe it goes away if you look deep into its eyes and tell it that it's a very bad dog." "No, don't look into its eyes!" Aviana tried to warn her but it was already too late.

The dog growled once more and jumped at Panini who fell to the ground with a scream and tried to kick it. In return it sank its teeth into her foot, making Panini scream even more. I wanted to help her but Hachiku was even quicker. "Enough of this shit!" he growled, sending the dog flying with one punch.

"Everyone, run!" Reece yelled and everyone stormed out of the room.

Panini was still crying on the floor and I quickly lifted her up. As soon as everyone had left the room Tokaku slammed the door shut and we all ran down to the living room.

Panini was incredible light, even for a girl of her height, and still I could barely carry her. That wasn't a good sign. But right now we had bigger problems. I set her down on the sofa and rubbing her eyes she tried a smile. "Thank you."

Tokaku quickly rushed to her side. "Nini! Are you okay?" The smaller girl took off her shoe and looked at her foot before she laughed in relief. "I am! It just bit the shoe!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Tokaku hugged her and hold her tight, almost crying here. Apparently Vivienne wanted to join the scene since she quickly told Panini "But your shoe is ruined. We can go shopping and get you a new one if you'd like to." That was one of the nicest things Vivienne had ever said to one of us and Panini beamed at her. "I'd love to! Thanks!"

For a moment everyone was safe and still it was strange. Hachiku had punched the dog quite hard and still he was standing there unharmed. When I thought about it, nothing happened to Artyom either. Something was strange here…

After everyone had calmed down we decided to try to spend the day as usual, hoping that the dog wouldn't be able to leave the dining room anymore. From now on we would have to go to the kitchen instead.

Panini and Vivienne left together to go get new shoes and I decided to talk to Tokaku once more. I still had wanted to ask her something about yesterday. When I asked her out for a walk she agreed happily as if she had wanted to tell me something as well. "Thanks for taking care of Nini," she said and I smiled. "You don't have to thank me, I didn't do anything special. I would have carried you, too, if you had been hurt."

"Nah, I don't think you'd be able to lift me up," Tokaku giggled. "Sorry. But I might be a bit jealous. You and Nini are really close, aren't you?"

"Um, not that much," I replied. "Why would you think that?"

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked more serious and I nodded. "But of course."

"Okay, so I told Panini that I really liked her. And she, well, she turned me down. And now I'm trying to find out if that is because she likes anyone else. Do you have any idea?" _Why do people keep on asking me about that?_

I simply shook my head. "Maybe you should just ask her. But by the way, what was going on with you and Aviana yesterday?" At least this made her smile again. "Alright, it's just like I said yesterday. Though maybe a bit less innocent." She laughed, playing with one strand of her hair. "Avi is just way too cute to resist her. Just like Nini. There are just way too many cute girls here. Hey, do you think Avi likes me, too?"

 _It would be too bad if she had two girls rejecting her_ … "It could be," I answered vaguely and she beamed at me. "That sounds great. Do you have any idea what she could like to do? I want to get a bit closer to her."

"Well, she really likes these occult things," I replied, remembering my conversation with Aviana. "She would really like to get to know more about hypnotism. And she likes these fantasy stories. I mean, tales."

"Awesome! Do you think she also likes superheroes? Like in these great American comic books?" I had no idea and I was also surprised that Tokaku liked them. Although with her looks she could probably be a super heroine herself, an enchanting one for sure. And her Ultimate Talent was probably similar to a hero's talent.

While we had been walking around we approached the little place where Reece had installed his trap. "It's done, guys," he said happily. "Look at my trap! If we want to get the dog out of our dining room we can lure it here and have it stuck."

Tokaku frowned. "It doesn't really look like much." "But it works perfectly fine, trust me," I said. "Don't test it." The girl had stepped near the hole and looked inside. "You know what?" she said then, still looking around. "This place would be perfect to plant some flowers here."

The last person who said that is dead now, I thought but I better didn't tell her. Just then we could hear the 'Ding-dang-dong' of a Monokuma announcement once more. "More naughty news?" Reece asked but apparently that wasn't the case.

"Attention, students! Everyone should gather in the living room immediately. Like right now!" And that was everything.

Once more we were all standing together in the living room and Monokuma climbed out of his drawer. Just how did he get in there all the times?

"So, I have something very important to tell you," he proclaimed, covering his face with his paws and chuckling in excitement.

"Is it about the punishment?" Daichi asked and Monokuma tilted his head. "Huh? What punishment?"

"We weren't allowed to hurt the dog," Daichi reminded him. "Two students have broken this rule but nothing has happened to them so far." "Oh, do you want me to punish them?" Monokuma asked excitedly and Daichi shook his head. "No. I just want to know why you didn't do anything."

Monokuma scratched his head as if he was embarrassed. "Oh, it looks like I completely forgot to tell you. I decided to abolish this rule long time ago."

"What?!" Artyom stared at the bear in bewilderment. "That means I could have simply shot it?" "Yes," Monokuma nodded happily.

"That means I didn't have to be bitten?" Tani asked with wide eyes. "We could've killed it before?" "Yes," Monokuma nodded happily and then he started to laugh. "So you got possibly infected with a probably deadly sickness for no real reason. Just because you thought there was a rule which wasn't. Hahahaha! Isn't that despairing?"

"That's just awful!" Tani protested with tears in her eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"To see your faces," Monokuma replied, still laughing in his annoying way. "You should see them right now, they're hilarious! Oh, and this motive also got really boring. I mean this dog will die sooner or later anyway and what if nothing happens in that time? We would probably just all die of boredom which would be even more boring. So, I had a great idea for a very fresh brand-new motive for you!"

"Another one?" Reece asked in shock. "Why do we have to get another one? The dog is bad enough!"

"I just explained that, you retard," Monokuma replied. "And now I don't want to talk about more unnecessary things. Let's just get straight to it!"

He jumped up and down to get something out of the drawer and finally showed us a box. "Here are your new motives! I collected all of your darkest secrets, upupupu. And every day no one gets killed I will pick one random one and read it out loud. Sounds like much fun, right?" He waved away some protests and picked up a slip of paper. "Let's start right now! Panini Chao's darkest secret! While she was once riding her bike she hit a bird!"

"Noo!" Panini got on her knees and buried her face. "That's so mean! Why would you tell everyone?" The others just exchanged looks.

"I am sorry," Tokaku said, softly patting Panini's shoulder. "Did the bird die?" "No, I helped it get healthy again," Panini sobbed. "But it was so horrible that I hurt it in the first place!" Well, with that Panini wouldn't have to worry any more but the others looked nervous. I was really curious what Monokuma thought my 'darkest secret' was but I guessed most of the others had an exact idea and didn't want to get it exposed. But what was more important to them, their secret or our friendship?

 **Things are slowly getting more serious...And I checked all the forms again, noticing that three of the girls are really underweight. Girls, that's not a good sign!**

 **Anyway, reviews are much appreciated.**


	23. New neighbourhood: Chapter VII

**It's done. This chapter was a bit hard to write for some reason but now it's done.**

 **FireDusk: I know it's a great motive, isn't it? And about the dog...you'll see…**

 **RubyLeo: You called me that before, it's all right… Well, Hachiku may be an ass but he's pretty good in protecting cute girls. And Lewini still sounds better than Panis. Anyway, thank you a lot for the review!**

 **WendyDokuro: I'm glad you liked it! I know, things are getting worse and worse now for them. Oh, and your character's weight is nothing to be worried about, just to tell you that.**

The next morning we met in the kitchen. Aviana had carefully looked into the dining room and although the dog had somehow vanished from there we rather stayed in the kitchen. Someone would later have to clean everything up and no one really wanted to do that.

At least everyone was still alive but even quieter than yesterday. Tani was with us again but she was pale as a sheet which obviously wasn't a good sign. Still it was reassuring that she was with us at least and not trying to avoid everyone.

Finally, after a long silence Tokaku stood up and proclaimed "Guys, we shouldn't listen to Monokuma. Maybe he is bluffing and he doesn't really know our secrets. And even if he does! We are friends, right? We would always stick together, right? No one wants to have an execution again, right?"

"Right," Panini nodded and some others joined in but the atmosphere still felt tense and uncomfortable. I noticed Aviana just looking at her hands in deep thought.

Tokaku nodded. "Yes, right! We have to believe in each other! And that's why I thought about lifting the mood! I could give a little show, showing you my talent. Everyone should come, we could have fun. Let us meet in the music room at around three pm, alright?"

Not everyone looked convinced about that idea but somehow they agreed. I was amazed that Tokaku had come up with an idea to raise the spirits again and was so determined to pull it through, there was a little chance that it could actually help.

Everyone was down today so I could barely get a chance to talk to anyone. Most of the others left quickly after breakfast and so I found myself alone with no one but Ari who excitedly asked me to play a game of chess with him. I didn't really want to spend time with the lighter-freak but it was still better than being all alone and so I agreed, easily defeating him. Still, it made him just smile and say "Next time I'll beat you". And yet he didn't care to let me finish my explanations.

At around three pm we made our way to the music room which looked amazingly different than usual. Tokaku had spent the noon veiling the windows with black cloths and building up a little stage with two chairs on it. As the other students slowly gathered she waved at us and smiled.

Thankfully the dog hadn't come and we could hope that it wouldn't manage to climb up all the stairs. Still Tokaku's smile slowly turned into a frown and I approached her to ask what was wrong.

"Avi didn't come?" she asked, clearly sounding disappointed. "I was so sure she would be fascinated by this!"

I looked around but indeed I couldn't see the Explorer girl anywhere. On the other hand I saw Hachiku and decided to ask him "Hey, have you seen Aviana? You're often jogging together, aren't you?"

He gave me this special look of his but at least he answered. "Yeah, we do but I haven't seen her today." Apparently no one had seen her which could mean that she was maybe climbing up some roof again or was too worried about these motives. She wasn't the only one who didn't appear, neither Tani nor Artyom were here either. Also I couldn't see Marilyn, Sandrine or Akira. Well, it was not much of a surprise that Tokaku couldn't motivate everyone.

At least those who were here looked eager for her to begin. "I'm sure this will be great," Reece said excitedly as he was standing next to me. Apparently he had recovered from yesterday's shock and got back to his usual self.

Tokaku managed to hide her disappointment about Aviana's absense and smiled at us all as she started her show. "First of all I need a lady to volunteer," she said. "I'm sorry but I won't hypnotise any guys."

I expected Panini to volunteer now but to my surprise it was Vivienne who immediately stepped forward and said "I'd do!" Was it just my imagination or did she really try to get along with the others better?

Tokaku beamed at her. "Very well! Then please sit here." She pointed at the chair and Vivienne did as requested, probably hiding her nervousity behind her fan.

Once more Tokaku put out her golden chain with the ruby pendant. "All you have to do is looking at it and listen to my voice," she explained. "Are you ready for it?"

Vivienne nodded with determination, putting her fan aside and set her eyes on Tokaku's pendant which slowly started to swing. "Just relax now," Tokaku said and it was amazing how her voice changed. Her usual cheerful tone turned into some sort of purr which already seemed enough to make you fall into a comfortable trance. No one was able to look away, maybe it was even impossible for all of us to move right now.

I tried not to listen, as much as her talent fascinated me I still wanted to remain level-headed. Though she seemed to focus on Vivienne I wasn't sure if we others couldn't be affected by it as well, she was the Ultimate Hypnotist after all. It was better to stay careful.

"You're very relaxed now, aren't you?" Tokaku finally purred. "There is no need for this fan anymore, right?"

"Yes, I feel really good," Vivienne replied, a soft smile on her face. Indeed she looked better than usual, as if she could finally relax and lost all her cold smugness. She didn't even try to grab her fan and I had the feeling that she lost some sort of an usual facade.

"Now I have to ask you a favor," Tokaku said, still with a voice like silk. "Will you tell us who of all the people here you like best?" And without any hesitation Vivienne elegantly pointed at Tokaku herself who looked quite surprised for a moment. Then she smiled again. "Will you be very honest now?" she asked and Vivienne nodded. "I will," she promised.

"Why are you always pretending to be so cold?" Tokaku asked softly and Vivienne looked a bit sad. "I just want to hide," she said. "I don't want to be disappointed." She didn't look like she wanted to say more and Tokaku didn't insist, instead she said "But now you want to be friends with all of us, right? Because we all should be friends."

Her words had a power in them, making me wonder if Tokaku could simply hypnotise all of us to stay friends and never betray each other. Anyway, either Daichi or me should hire her, it was amazing how she made Vivienne talk about her feelings without bothering her.

"I really want that," Vivienne admitted. "I never wanted anyone to die, I..."

Her words were suddenly interrupted by a loud gunshot, making all of us flinch. Vivienne blinked in confusion as she suddenly awoke from her trance. Tokaku put her chain back into her pocket and frowned. "What was that just now?" she asked with worry in her voice.

"It sounded like it came from downstairs," Reece said. "We should probably go looking." He didn't need to say that, by now everyone had made their way to the door. We rushed down the stairs, everyone looking for the source of the sound. Of course Panini was the first to enter the atelier and what she saw made her scream in horror.

Immediately everyone else stormed inside and the next moment the monitor at the wall turned on. "Gratulations! A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, the Class Trial will begin!"

No one paid attention to it as we all looked at the floor. Aviana was laying there in a small puddle of blood, all of her limbs looking strangely disarranged and her green eyes starring blindly in our direction. Without any doubt the little Explorer was dead.

 **And there we have our second murder. Reviews would be nice!**


	24. New neighbourhood: Chapter VIII

**Reapergenesis32: Thanks for telling me your suspects, I'm curious if you will change your mind or stay to your opinion after the investigation.**

 **FireDusk: Despite everything, I'm glad you liked her!**

 **WendyDokuro: I'm sorry about the death… Let's see what you think after the Investigation.**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Thanks a lot for the review! Well, new weapons are exciting, aren't they?**

Tokaku screamed, her eyes filled with tears. There was nothing of her usual cheerfulness left, only agony could be read on her face. "Why her?!" she cried out, eventually falling to her knees.

"Oh my god," Reece whispered behind me, his voice getting louder with anger. "Who the fuck did this?! She was so innocent!"

Of course no one replied to that and I didn't have any words left either. The longer I stared at the dead body the less I could imagine that this really was Aviana. It wasn't only the state of her body, it was the emptiness in her eyes. I remembered very well how they sparkled when she talked about her interests.

While everyone was still in shock Daichi had knelt down next to the corpse and now he said calmly "It looks like she broke her neck. We should investigate about it, shouldn't we?"

"Damn it all, he's right!" Tokaku proclaimed with a new determination and wiping her face she got to her feet again. "I will find the bastard who did this!"

And so everyone split up again as if they wanted to be alone for their investigation. I tried to collect my thoughts and focus on the investigation now. Looking around I noticed Akira standing in the door frame and regarding the scene with a disturbed expression. I remembered that he hadn't been at Tokaku's show and so I decided to talk to him.

"Are you all right?" I asked carefully and he just blankly stared at me. Finally he said with a raspy voice "You should check your handbook. Apparently we can open the Monokuma file now." And with this he turned around and left the scene. Maybe I should have followed him to make sure he was all right but in this moment I was too curious about the Monokuma file.

Glad that I had my handbook in my shirt pocket with me, I got it out and checked the file. Indeed I could open it now, it showed me a black and white picture of Aviana next to a little text.

 _The victim is Aviana Stenberg. The time of death was around 3:14 pm while the cause of death was the broken neck. Beside this the victim has several broken limbs as well as_ _a_ _laceration at the back of the head and_ _a premortal bullet wound at the left leg._

I quickly checked the time, it was half past three by now so the time fitted the gunshot we had heard.

Probably I should take a closer look at the corpse now. Hachiku was standing next to it, probably to guard it since when I came nearer he looked at me like he wanted to murder me. "She has been touched by enough of you now," he growled and I could see a hint of pain on his face. "Damn it, she was such a nice girl," he continued, clenching his fists and I better took a step back before he decided to use me as a punching bag.

Apparently he had been talking about Artyom who had observed the corpse already and was now talking with Tani about it. I should better talk to them as well.

"I thought they'd go for me," the girl said, clear anger in her voice. "Why her instead?!" Artyom just shook his head, then looking at me as I asked "Did you discover anything?"

Apparently the wounds were just like described in the handbook. Artyom also noticed that Aviana didn't have her usual backpag with her plus that there were some blood splatters around the scene. "And I found this inside the pocket of her shorts," Artyom said, showing me a completely shattered mobile phone. I looked at it carefully but it was so broken that I doubted you could ever switch it on again. Still I advised Artyom to show this to Akira who probably had the best knowledge about mobiles.

As I looked around then I noticed Marilyn and Sandrine who also had been absent during the show and decided to talk to them.

Marilyn was holding the other girl who was nearly hyperventilating and apparently trying very hard not to faint once again. As I approached them Marilyn glared at me. "We didn't do it, alright?" she said before I could even open my mouth. "Just because we didn't go to Tokaku's thing doesn't mean we're murderers."

"I didn't suspect you," I said and she looked surprised. "Oh, okay. That's nice then." She thought for a moment while hugging a trembling Sandrine and finally said "I think I should tell you something. Remember when we had our girl's night and the dog attacked Tani?"

"But of course." _How could I forget about that anyway?_

"Well, Aviana approached me," Marilyn continued. "She asked me for advice actually. She told me that she really liked someone but didn't know what to do about it."

"And what did you tell her?" I asked and Marilyn shrugged. "Well, I don't know much about such things. I offered her some stories of the most interesting secret love affairs in history but that wasn't enough for her. If you want love tips go to someone else. I just thought I should tell you about it. And now we have a case to investigate."

And with that she left, hand in hand with Sandrine. Her words made me wonder, did Aviana mean Tokaku or someone else?

Just then Panini came running to me, tears streaming down her face as she threw herself into my arms. "Lewis, I found another one!" she cried out. "Another what?" I asked and she could barely croak out the words "Another c-corpse!"

But that couldn't be, I had seen everyone being alive. "Show me," I said and Panini dragged me to a corner of the atelier. Laying lifeless on the floor was the dog, foam still dripping from the slightly opened jaws. Panini started to cry again. "The poor doggie! Why did it have to die, too?"

 _She's actually crying for this beast? Goodness…_ She even wanted to pet it and I quickly warned her not to do so unless she wanted to get infected as well. Just then I noticed the blood in the dog's fur as it had a small wound which probably killed it.

"Look, now it doesn't have to suffer from its sickness anymore," I said to cheer Panini up and she looked up to me with teary eyes. "Do you think it's happy now?" she asked with slight hope in her voice. "I'm sure of it," I said reassuringly. I couldn't care less but it made Panini happy and that was what I wanted.

"Last time I didn't do anything to help the investigation," she said, obviously feeling guilty about this. "But this time I will! We will find out who did this to Avi, right?" She seemed very determined before she tilted her head and asked "Um, what can I do to help?"

I had the feeling that she wouldn't be much of a help looking for clues but I had another idea. "Can you go find Artyom and bring him here?" I asked. "He should be able to find out what killed the dog."

Panini nodded and ran away, so I could look around a bit more. The atelier looked like usual except for the corpse. Then I noticed Tokaku climbing up the latter and I quickly went to her, asking what she was looking for. "Maybe I will find something if I look down from here," she said determined and I suddenly remembered Aviana having the same idea when she wanted to climb up a roof. I wondered if she ever did that now...

"And, do you see anything helpful?" I asked and watched her frown. "Well, there is something like a dent at the wall. I don't know if that has any meaning. Maybe I should thrust it next to the window and look down there..."

While she kept on looking around, Reece suddenly approached me with a worried expression on his face. "I have to tell you something really bad," he whispered. "You remember the plans I made for the dog trap?" He didn't even wait until I nodded but continued "They were stolen! What if someone uses them?"

"Don't worry about it," I said, trying to reassure him. "Nobody here is an Ultimate Trapper like you. I'm sure the others wouldn't be able to install such traps." Actually I would be amazed if someone was able to identify Reece's scrawlings.

"Man, I hope so," he said and then suddenly pulled out a pistol. "I have found this here. Do you think the murderer used it to shoot Aviana?" "Probably," I replied. "Would you mind not pointing it at me?"

"Damn, sorry. Sure." He quickly put it back to the ground as if it burnt his hands. Just then I noticed Artyom and Panini standing next to the dog and excusing myself to Reece I went over to them. "Yeah, looks like a gunshot wound," Artyom commented. "Someone finally shot this dog. And it wasn't me. But…"

Ding-dang-dong! Just then the monitor at the wall turned on again. "Attention please!" Monokuma proclaimed. "Time's up! Everyone gather at the basement door! Everyone! Another breathtaking Class Trial is about to begin! Upupupu..."

Looks like we didn't have a choice but go to the basement once more…

 **I guess it will take some time to make the class trial.**

 **Anyway, I'm curious what you guys think now so theories are very welcome!**


	25. Class Trial II

**Thanks a lot for all the reviews! They motivated me much, so the next chapter is already here!**

 **Reapergenesis32: We will see!**

 **FireDusk: I'm so curious now who you think it was. Let's see if you change or stay to your opinion after this.**

 **Dashunterman: I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it! And since I don't want my readers to be agonised I was very quick this time.**

 **Kitty Painter: I'm happy to hear that!**

 **WendyDokuro: That was very interesting, thanks for sharing your thoughts!**

 **RubyLeo: Wow, 1000 percent? Now I'm really curious if the trial goes as you expected. And yes…Tokaku doesn't have luck with love. But your shipping is cute.**

Once again we had to enter the lift, once again we had to enter the room and step on the pedestals, once again I had to look at Alice's crossed face next to me. But now Ammy's and Aviana's faces had been crossed out as well.

This time we didn't need any encouraging words from Monokuma, Tokaku just came straight to the point. "Let's start this! It's pretty obvious that one of those who didn't come to my show did it!"

I looked closely at those five who were suspicious. Akira looked terrible with these bags under his eyes but also very young at the same time. Was it possible for this child to commit a murder? Yes, I could imagine it, he had such an amazing personality disorder and a high intelligence resulting from it.

Artyom stayed completely relaxed though being accused as if he wanted to show us how silly this thought was. Of course it could be just an act.

Tani on the other hand looked somehow shocked as she clenched her fists. She still wore this bandage and I wondered if her injury would have hindered her from murder. To know that it would probably be necessary to know how the murder actually happened.

Marilyn didn't show much of emotion, she just glared at Tokaku as if she felt insulted but I wasn't really sure. Marilyn was always hard to read.

And then there was finally Sandrine who trembled crazily and just stared at her disk with wide eyes. It must be the hell for her to be here again, remembering what happened last time.

So, one of them needed to be the murderer. "You should probably tell us what you did during the time we all were gathered in the music room," I said with a friendly smile so they could see I was ready to believe in their innocence.

Artyom went first. "I was wandering around outside for a bit. I'm sorry, Tokaku, but I just wanted some peace and tranquility."

Tani came second. "Well, I was in my room," she said and that was everything. But the way she looked at her arm meant probably that she either felt uncomfortable around us with her possible infection or just had been in pain.

Marilyn seemed to be thinking about what she should say. "I was in the store room," she explained then. "Because of this dog-motive no one cared about it anymore but I still thought it would be a good idea to see what we could find there."

"Something you could use for murder?" Hachiku growled and she shook her head in annoyance. "Of course not! Why would I do that? I just wanted to make sure there is nothing someone else could use!"

Akira hesitated some more then he said slowly "I was in my room. I just...needed to think about some things." Probably it had something to do with the motives we had been given. Ever since then he had been really quiet.

Sandrine was the last one and as everyone looked at her she trembled even more, her eyes quickly filling with tears. Finally she whispered something like "W-was in m-my r-room… Didn't want t-to...to c-come without M-M-Marilyn..."

So of course no one of them had a real alibi. Still we couldn't really say who was the murderer and everyone seemed to know this.

"It probably wasn't Akira," Tokaku told us her thoughts. "And I also doubt Sandrine and Tani. So it had to be one of you!" She angrily pointed from Marilyn to Artyom and back, making the girl raise an eyebrow. "And why would you think so?"

"Because of the state Avi was in," Tokaku said. Her voice got a bit shaky here but she quickly regained her composure. "Several limbs were broken! She died from a broken neck after all. Someone must have attacked her really angrily! And Akira and Sandrine are probably too weak to do so. And Tani is injured so it must have been one of you two. Just admit it already!"

Of course they didn't and Reece said "Um, hate to disagree but what about the gunshot? I found a pistol at the crime scene and we all heard the shot. They shot her, why would they need to break all of her limbs?"

"They must have been so a-angry!" Sandrine said quietly.

"Maybe they didn't really know how to use the weapon?" Tani suggested. "Or felt uncomfortable with it? They somehow shot her leg so she couldn't move away but they rather killed her by brute force?"

"Brute force sounds like a certain someone!" Vivienne claimed, glaring at Hachiku who immediately clenched his fists. "What do you mean, bitch? I wouldn't have hurt her so much, not a nice girl like her!"

"You better calm down," Daichi said. "That's not how it happened anyway. The time of death was 3:14 according to the Monokuma file and around that time we had heard the gunshot and all came running down there to see what happened. Also she was shot before she died. That means the murderer would have shot her and then broke all her limbs within seconds before he somehow vanished from the atelier again. I don't think that is possible."

"And what do you think has happened?" Tokaku wanted to know. "She fell from the ladder," Daichi explained. "It's a very high ladder, it would be possible to break your bones like this."

"Why would she climb up there in the first place?" Marilyn asked, apparently shuddering from the thought of falling down somewhere and crushing your body like this.

"Aviana wasn't afraid of climbing," I said, remembering this nice afternoon I had been talking with her. "She liked it. And she was very small, maybe she wanted to see if she would fit through that little window."

"But the ladder wasn't standing right next to the window, remember?" Tokaku said.

"Maybe it was suicide then?" Tani asked with new hope in her voice. "She climbed up the ladder and jumped, knowing that she would die?"

"Aviana was a person who loved to be outside," Daichi disagreed. "She would have jumped from a roof then. And I can't believe she would want to create such a mess in the atelier which some people love to use." He nodded towards Panini here.

"Also she had a bullet wound," I added. "It's more likely to believe that someone shot her in the leg and because of this she fell down and broke her neck." It was a nice way of murder, much easier than stabbing or strangling someone. You wouldn't even get blood on yourself. And of course even Akira, Sandrine or Tani could have done that, so we still had no idea who the murderer could be.

I was still thinking about what Marilyn had told me before and so I asked "Tokaku, you really liked her, right?" She looked at me in surprise. "Of course I did! I don't know how anyone could dislike her! She was a real cutie...and although she was cautious she could be really brave! I… I still can't believe this." She looked like she had to fight back her tears.

I continued my questioning. "And, did Aviana like you, too? I mean did it look like you two had a future?" Now she stared at me, a painful grimace destroying the beauty of her face. "What are you trying to do? Pouring salt in my wounds? Well, no, she never told me that she liked me the way I liked her but maybe she would have. Thanks to some bastard we'll never know!"

"Tokaku, I'm so sorry," Panini said, almost crying herself. But I had got the answers I needed. Apparently Aviana hadn't confessed to Tokaku but maybe to someone else?

Now Hachiku clenched his fists once more. "Stop acting like you're the victim here!" he growled. "We're all sad that Aviana died! But you know what I think? It's great how you have an alibi!"

"What do you mean?" Tokaku asked back with a frown.

"Well, you thought of this show!" Hachiku claimed. "And you were doing something so everyone could say that you were with the rest of us at the time of murder! Isn't that just the perfect alibi?"

"You're such an idiot!" Vivienne hissed, not able to hold her anger back. "Yes, it is a perfect alibi because she really was with us at the time of murder, there is no doubt to that! And why the hell would she ever kill Aviana?"

"Because she got rejected?" Hachiku guessed. "She's one hell of a hot chick but maybe Avi didn't care. And if she used some trick, maybe it's possible?"

That was surprisingly smart, I had no idea how Tokaku would react if she were rejected twice.

"Or maybe she hypnotised someone else to do it while everyone else was gathered in the music room?" Reece wondered.

"Would that person be the murderer then?" Daichi asked Monokuma who was doing a handstand for whatever reason. "Or Tokaku?" "Well, Tokaku of course," Monokuma replied happily. "Always blame the big bad mastermind!"

"What?" Tokaku protested. "That's not fair! You morons have no idea of hypnotism, have you? I can't just force everyone to do everything! For example, if someone really doesn't want to kill I can't just force them! So, if I would have hypnotised someone so they'd kill Avi, this person would have already been ready to do so. And that means it's their fault! But that's totally absurd – I would have never wanted to hurt Avi in any way! How can you even think that?!"

"It really could be disappointment," Daichi said calmly. "Or maybe a motive. Or would you tell us now what your darkest secret is?"

Tokaku bit her lip and kept silent, just glaring at the boy. Daichi continued "It could have been possible for you to hypnotise someone to do it. I believe that a bit of murderous intent is in almost everyone of us. Plus you're not just a simple Hypnotist, you're the Ultimate one. Your abilities should be amazing."

Tokaku clenched her fists, unable to argument against that. It was Vivienne who spoke up. "Leave her alone, all of you! Isn't it obvious in how much pain she is right now?! We should rather focus on those who don't have an alibi! Tani for example! She probably would have wanted to get out of here as soon as possible to get her wound treated!"

"I wouldn't betray you guys!" Tani simply objected.

"I don't think this is bringing us any further," Marilyn barged in. "Maybe we should stop the accusations and rather think about all the other evidence."

"What evidence?" Hachiku asked with a frown. "We know how it happened, we just don't know who fucking did it!"

"A-Artyom has the most knowledge of guns," Sandrine said quietly and the boy simply said calmly "I didn't do it."

Immediately Sandrine started to cry as her nerves couldn't bear it any longer.

"Well, other evidence could be the mobile phone," I got us back to topic. "Akira, have you found out anything about it?"

The boy slowly shook his head. "It must have been seriously damaged when the body hit the ground. I managed to use the memory card on a different phone but apparently Aviana didn't have any contacts. I also don't think the phone was used for calling."

"Maybe for activating a bomb then?" Ari suggested, almost excited by thinking of this. "And where was the bomb?" Tani asked back.

"So, we have no idea," Artyom concluded. "What about the dog then? Who shot it?"

Of course no one admitted that either. "We only heard one shot," I thought aloud. "But both Aviana and the dog were obviously shot. That could mean the dog was shot somewhere outside and then brought to the atelier..."

"Artyom could have done that when he was wandering outside!" Vivienne interjected. "And why should I have dragged it back to the atelier?" Artyom asked. "To get a painting from the dead dog?"

Panini shook her head. "No, no! That wouldn't be a nice painting!"

"Or maybe we could only hear one shot because the culprit used a sound suppressor for the other one," Marilyn said. "The question is why would they do it?"

That was a really good question, did that mean we were supposed to hear the gunshot? But only one? I had no idea why the murderer would want this. There was a tense silence as we all were too clueless to continue. Monokuma chuckled softly, obviously enjoying our desperation.

Just then Marilyn said "I have been investigating inside the dormrooms and when I was looking outside of my window, I found something interesting. Outside of the building at the wall, just a few centimetres underneath the rain gutter, was a strange trail of something black. I'm pretty sure it was ash. And as far as I could see from my window it started somewhere at the boys' rooms."

"Now that you mention it, I saw something like that, too!" Tokaku remembered. "On the sill of the little window in the atelier. I just thought that was dirt."

So, there was ash? I guessed then something has burnt there… "Reece?" I asked. "Do you think that has anything to do with your missing plans?"

"What missing plans?" Marilyn asked and he quickly explained it without looking up. "You just let some dangerous plans lay around?" Tani snapped. "Are you stupid?"

"No! I just tried to help everyone!" Reece protested. "But none of my plans included burning something anyway!"

And so we were standing there, wondering what had happened and who did it…

 **!CLASS TRIAL SUSPENDED!**

 **So, what do you think so far, dear readers? Do you have ideas what happened?**


	26. Class Trial II Part II

**Thanks a lot for all the reviews! All of your theories were very interesting, thanks a lot for sharing them!**

 **FireDusk: All right, I decided to make another chapter for this so it's better to read.**

 **Colossal Fighter GX: The plans Reece had mentioned during the Investigation. They were ideas for dog traps.**

 **RubyLeo: Well, I don't mind if you need a bit more time, I'm just happy that you review at all. And as soon as the Investigation started I closed the poll so you should be able to see the results.**

 **TechniqueFantasy: Thanks a lot and that's good to know. I'm always happy when you review.**

 **Alnoots: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. In this case the murder has to be Akira, Artyom or Ari, right?**

"The question is why is there a trail of ash?" Tokaku asked and Sandrine replied "I guess, something was burnt."

"That was obvious," Vivienne said, rolling her eyes, and Sandrine started to cry again.

Marilyn glared at the blonde girl. "Don't be rude! So, what was burnt there? A very long fuse maybe?"

Reece had turned pale by now. "Simple ropes, I think."

"Ropes?" Tokaku repeated and Reece cursed under his breath. "Now I know what they did! It's just like in my plan! One of my plans was to lift the dog to the ceiling of the atelier, it was a really stupid one so I already forgot about it again. For that I had needed ropes, one end attached to the rain gutter, the other end wrapped around the dog. Damn it, if they did that with Aviana… and then burnt the rope, she would fell to her death."

This was a terrible thought, imagining the little girl hanging there completely helpless as the rope was slowly burnt away.

"B-but w-why was s-she s-shot t-then?" Jason asked.

"That probably happened before someone hanged her up," Daichi replied. "Maybe to restrain her from struggling."

"But if they shot her and then hanged her up, how could that be possible in this short amount of time?" Vivienne asked. "It was obvious that we would be alarmed when we heard the shot and ran down there!"

Just then Akira giggled, making all of us look at him in confusion. "Now I know!" he said with a little smile. "It was an alarm clock!"

"What?" Tokaku asked, now totally confused. "For what would you need an alarm clock? And we also didn't find one."

Akira shook his head. "It was on the mobile phone! My buddies finally figured it out for me. Listen, the culprit shot both the dog and Aviana without us noticing anything due to the sound suppressor. That would explain why we didn't hear two shots. Then they tied her up and started to burn down the rope. There must have been a second one leading from the window in the atelier to the window of the culprit's room so it would take some more time until it was burnt down.

Before they had installed an alarm clock at the mobile phone with the sound of a gunshot. Shortly after we heard the alarm the rope must have burnt away and Aviana fell down, breaking her neck like this. That means being at the show is no alibi at all, actually I'm sure everyone who was there is more suspicious since that person tried to create an alibi for themselves."

We were speechless, totally amazed by his sudden ideas. It was weird but somehow made sense.

Hachiku growled "Just like I said! Tokaku created her perfect alibi."

"Impossible," Vivienne objected. "Didn't you listen? The ash trail started somewhere at the boys' rooms, so it must have been one of them!"

The ones of us who had their chambers on the same side as Marilyn were Daichi, Akira, Jason, Hachiku and me. The sheer thought of climbing along the rain gutter with a rope in hand was impossible for me and I also had problems imagining the other boys doing it except for the one who loved serious sports.

"Didn't you tell me that you would love to climb here?" I asked Hachiku who glared at me. "Yeah, so what?"

"Well, you're the only one who could have done that!" As I said that I had the feeling Hachiku turned a bit pale. "What the hell? No fucking way! You think you can just fucking accuse me, you little piece of shit?!"

"Well, it is obvious that you're getting nervous now," Daichi said calmly and Hachiku turned around to glare at him. "The hell I get! You're fucking retarded!"

"I always knew you were an ass!" Marilyn said, slamming her fist on her desk. "So, you're the one who did it?!"

"No, you stupid bitch!" Hachiku yelled back. "What kind of fucking reason would I have to kill Avi, goddammit?!"

"She trusted you," Daichi replied. "She was a very easy victim, especially because of that. And I guess it's because of Monokuma's motive you wanted to kill. You have a secret you don't want anyone to know, isn't that right?"

"Just shut the hell up, shitface!"

Daichi just didn't react to the insult and looked at Monokuma. "Maybe you could tell us about the secret?" For completely unnecessary reasons the bear pulled out some glasses and looked at some papers in his paws. "Sure, I could, if my students ask me so nicely!"

"Don't you dare! I fucking kill you!" Hachiku yelled and tried to jump from his pedestal but some chains suddenly appeared and shackled him. Monokuma acted as if nothing had happened "Hachiku Yamawara's darkest secret is..."

"Stop it!" Hachiku looked completely desperate now. "It's true, I killed her. Just stop it!"


	27. Execution II

**FireDusk: I hope the execution will cheer you up!**

 **CG's-Dreamland: I just wrote that Akira giggled because he was relieved that he and his buddies could solve the problem. But I knew it would probably seem to be a bit suspicious.**

 **WendyDokuro: If Aviana set this up and was tricked, it would have been so awesome….**

 **TechniqueFantasy: Haha, I'm glad to hear that. That's the key, if the readers dislike all the characters is so much less despair…**

 **ForestFaune: What? No, Ari didn't die, don't worry.**

After this confession we all stood there in silent shock. Then Reece clenched his fists and glared at Hachiku in hatred. "What did you do?!"

The much taller boy glared back but didn't say another word. Tokaku had been silent so far but now she hissed like a cat, tears in her eyes. "You? You did that?! And tried to blame me? You know what? I hope you'll burn in hell for that, you bastard! How...how could you?"

Marilyn shook her head. "I can't believe someone would be so dumb to make a trail lead to their own room."

Hachiku glared at her. "Don't act so smart, bitch. How should I have known someone would check if there is dirt on the walls?" Daichi simply said "As my studies say, he doesn't use his brain so much" and earned another angry glare.

"But why the dog?" Panini asked. "It was innocent!"

"Innocent, my ass," Hachiku retorted. "It was a pest. I just wanted it to be out of the way after Avi...was dead." "Another evidence for the lack of brain use," Daichi commented. "If only you had dragged the dog somewhere else and hid it we wouldn't have noticed the time of the shot was incorrect."

"Yes, it's so sad," Monokuma agreed, still holding the papers in his paws. "Let's cheer up the mood and hear about this dark secret!"

"What?!" Hachiku had turned pale by now. "I already confessed!" Monokuma laughed out loud. "I never said anything about keeping quiet when you confess, did I? So, Hachiku Yamawara's darkest secret is… that he is not Hachiku Yamawara!"

"What do you mean?" Marilyn asked in confusion. "Who is he then?"

"In fact he is Junpei Yamawara, the supposed dead twin brother of Hachiku!"

"Wait, wait, wait, now that's getting confusing," Reece interrupted. "So, he is his own brother? What?"

"Junpei and Hachiku were both working in mines," Monokuma explained, obviously enjoying to tell us the story. "And one time Junpei made the cave they were working in collapse on purpose. He didn't mind killing around thirty other workers as well, he just wanted to kill his twin brother so he could take on his identity. And thus he became Hachiku, the only survivor. Hahaha, I guess your parents really didn't like you since they never noticed!"

"What the hell? You're a murderer!" Reece yelled angrily. "How could you do that? Why even your own brother?"

"None of your business," Hachiku (or should I better call him Junpei now?) replied. It was interesting, he didn't look shocked that his crime was revealed, he looked more like he was afraid Monokuma would continue. And of course the bear did.

"Why would he do such a terrible thing you ask? Well, obviously to get rid of his own identity. That's why he claimed Junpei to be dead. So he could get rid of these terrible rumours people spread about him."

"Shut up!" the miner screamed. Now we got to the really interesting part…

"Those terrible rumours that he was gay!"

"I am definitely not!" Hachiku protested with his fists clenched. "I've never been! That's all a lie!"

"Seriously?" Now Tani spoke up and she sounded completely aghast. "That's all? Because of that you killed so many people? What is wrong with you?!"

"That's all?" Hachiku repeated angrily. "Do you have any idea how horrible it was for me to live with this? No matter who I was talking to, they all knew and they all had the same thoughts about me."

"So this is all based on a trauma?" Daichi asked casually. "Because you always got teased and mocked?"

"What kind of pathetic weakling do you think I am?" Hachiku growled. "If anyone had try to tease me I would have punched them until they shut up. It was even worse. No one said something, they all just pretended they didn't care but I knew they all did and they all despised me."

"I can't believe this!" Tokaku glared at him. "How retarded can a human being be? That's why you killed a wonderful innocent girl like Avi?! Let's just vote and kill him off, I can't stand this any longer!"

No one objected and so we took our votes. "Congratulations! The murderer is Junpei Yamawara!" Monokuma threw confetti on all of us before Hachiku's pedestal opened and he vanished like Ammy did before. No one said a word until the door opened once more and we could see the boy tied to a stake on this stage which still had bloodstains from Ammy's execution.

He looked at us and there was no fear in his eyes, just wild anger. "Why?" Panini asked with a shaking voice and then she repeated louder "Why?! Why would you kill? We promised that something like that would never happen again!"

"Stop acting like a brat!" Hachiku hissed. "Do you have any idea how much your stupid behaviour pisses me off?! As if such a promise had any worth here! You're all just a bunch of weaklings, faggots and ugly whores! Don't think that anyone of you makes it out of here because of your oh so great friendship! Now you're all complaining and next you'll kill off one of your friends because of some stupid reason, so stop whining you hypocrites!"

He was silenced as giant glass walls appeared around him. We could still see him but couldn't hear any word from him. It looked like he was trapped inside a giant transparent cube.

Inside the cube some more Monokumas appeared, they simply came down from the ceiling as if they were entering a cave. Every one of them was disturbingly well-built for a toy bear and dressed up as a miner. Hachiku glared at them but he couldn't move.

And then he started to struggle and apparently gasp for breath. It must be some gas that was suffocating him. We could only watch his death struggle as first his lips and then his entire face turned blue while pure panic was in his eyes. And the Monokumas danced around him in a manner I could only describe as campy. The scene was so ridiculous and terrible at the same time that it made my eyes hurt.

Then finally one of the Monokumas pulled out a lighter and with a joyful smile he switched it on. The air in the cube seemed to explode, Monokuma parts flew everywhere. Hachiku's body was torn to shreds and splashed against the glass.

One sad little Monokuma had to clean everything up, and with his dust mop he smeared the last remains of Hachiku all across the walls…


	28. Crime Special II

**RubyLeo : Somehow expected that reaction after his death. Well, you will see (hopefully not too) soon. And thanks, Iffy is grateful.**

 **FireDusk : Yes, I know, it's sad… Anyway, I'm glad it cheered you up, people's reactions after they are exposed as the blackened are always interesting.**

 **Dashunterman : Well, it still can happen, right?**

 **TheRoseShadow21 : Thanks, I'm glad the execution was all right.**

 **TechniqueFantasy : I'm actually glad someone still likes him. I somehow like him, too, though he isn't nice at all. Thanks a lot for the review!**

 **WendyDokuro : Hachiku hoped Monokuma wouldn't tell the others about his secret if he just confessed (which is stupid, never trust Monokuma) and keeping his secret was the most important to him. Yes, I also noticed that this trial was shorter… (Maybe because Hachiku made some really dumb mistakes?) Anyway, I will try to make the next one longer again! And to be honest, Hachiku was designed to be a unlikeable character, I don't think he had redeemable potential. That's why I let him die quite early. Maybe you like him more after the special but probably not… Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts!**

Hachiku balled the paper up and decided to throw it away later. When he had first found the scribblings of this British runt laying around he didn't pay them much attention. It looked like some weird plan, probably to catch the dog. Hachiku had no problems recognising everything as he himself wasn't very well at drawing either. Making pretty drawings was something for girls after all.

Since the runt never said anything about a plan missing Hachiku had no intention to talk to him about it and for some reason he kept the paper.

Now he was proud that it had come to his mind again. That fucked up bear had somehow heard of these terrible rumours and he was ready to tell everyone. Hachiku would have killed his brother in vain if his secret got exposed now. And the simple thought that the others could hear about the rumours...oh, it was too embarrassing! They would believe them and then they would never look at him the same way.

Every girl would totally forget about his great muscles when they heard, instead they would treat him with patronising pity. And he didn't even want to think about the other boys who would get all high and mighty, thinking they were superior to him or something. Damn it, he couldn't stand the thought of being exposed like this again! Damned 7th grade! He should have never listened to his friend, he should have just continued to only care about girls…

But now it wasn't the time to regret, now was the time to take action. It would be easy, he only had to kill someone and Monokuma would keep quiet. Probably he could even escape from this fucked up place!

It must have been luck to find this plan because it gave him the perfect idea. He first had wanted to simply punch someone to death or maybe throw them from a rooftop or something like that. But this was way cleverer! If he wouldn't have to be there at the time of death he could get a great 'alibi' how they called it. After the last trial he had seen that it was important to get an alibi and Tokaku with her show was a great help here.

Even better, the painter girl was helping her out preparing for it, so the atelier was empty and ready for his plans. He had already attached the ropes and brought the ladder into position. In the right shop he had got a mobile phone and found the right alarm sound. The pistol was resting in his pocket, he had to be careful that it wouldn't fall out. The only things missing now were the dog and his victim.

Aviana entered the corridor where he was leaning against a wall and smiled at him. "You want to go for a jog?" she asked. They had done that quite often, as well as some climbing around and making some exercises to keep in shape. He had always liked girls who looked out for their body.

"Um, not this time," he said. "I, uh, thought we could just spend some time together and, well, you know, talk or something." What did this psycho-something moron say last time? "To get to know each other better."

Aviana looked a bit confused by his sudden change of behaviour. "Um, okay."

She wanted to leave the hostel and he quickly hold her back. She needed to go to the atelier after all, so he had to pretend he wanted her to be there. He should have thought earlier about a good explanation why to go there of all places but now it was too late for that. "I, um, want to show you a nice picture," he improvised. Hopefully, Panini had some nice pictures laying around...

Aviana seemed to be curious now which was a good sign and as soon as they entered the atelier Hachiku started to look for any painting that could be worth to look at. Most of them appeared very boring in his eyes.

Then he finally found one painting of Tokaku. She looked hot as ever but for some weird reason wore a completely ridiculous outfit as if she was some superhero or something, holding her ruby-chain like a weapon. "I, um, thought this looked very interesting," he said as Aviana came nearer and the girl giggled slightly. "As if it was a magic ruby," she said thoughtfully. "It looks like it, don't you think?"

"Sure… You should probably ask Panini about it. Later, I mean." Not that she would run away now. Damn, where was this dog? He had hid some food in the atelier, hoping that it would lure the animal here.

"Are you alright?" Aviana asked now. "You look a bit tense." Crap, she noticed! What now? "It's just that I keep thinking about these secrets," he replied.

And then finally he could hear the lumbering steps of the dog approaching. The beast looked worse than ever before as foam had covered its jaws completely and there was a wild pain in his eyes. It was perfect.

While Aviana was shocked Hachiku reacted quickly. "Quick! On the ladder!" Without any problems she climbed up the unsteady ladder and he followed right behind her. It wasn't very comfortable up there but better than being attacked by the dog. They would just have to wait until it would go away again and while they were waiting Hachiku mentally prepared for his plan.

"About these secrets..." Aviana started to talk. "I wouldn't want the others to know mine but it's still better it gets revealed then killing someone. I hope the others think so as well." "Yeah, me, too," Hachiku replied awkwardly.

The girl hesitated for a moment, then she said "I'm trusting you. I think it's better if you know my secret." She took a deep breath and continued "I was already arrested several times." A cute girl like her? Hachiku had problems believing that. Aviana continued "I ran away a lot, stole a bit, set something on fire. I'm not proud about it… You know, my mother cheated on her husband. Had some affair with a criminal. And well, then I was born. Her husband knew immediately that I wasn't his daughter. It ruined their marriage..."

Her expression had got sad, even guilty. And still it seemed like it had done her good to just talk about it for once. "So, maybe… you tell me yours, too?" she asked shyly. "Only if you want to of course!"

He didn't really want to. But the girl wouldn't live long any more, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone else. And somehow he wanted to see if she would actually despise him after knowing about it, despise him as much as he despised himself.

And so he said "Alright. My secret is that there used to be bad rumours about me and a friend. People actually said I was gay. That's totally ridiculous of course!"

To his surprise Aviana smiled and she didn't do so in a scornful way. "You're lucky then. You don't have a bad secret."

"You think it doesn't matter that people think I'm gay?" he asked back and she shook her head. "I don't care. I like you and I don't care who you're into. I don't even know if I prefer boys or girls. It's not that important anyway as long as you can l-love. And I think I might really like someone." She blushed and hell, she looked cute. It was such a pity she had to die but even if she tried to comfort him now he could tell that everyone would think badly of him. Was she even honest? Maybe she just tried to hide her disgust by telling things like that.

It wasn't important to Hachiku that he was well-liked, he had no problem with people hating him. That probably meant that they feared or envied him and felt inferior. But he couldn't stand the thought other people would look down on him.

Aviana quickly consulted her watch and then said "Looks like Tokaku's show will begin soon! We should better go there, I really don't want to miss it!"

"No, me neither," Hachiku replied and his voice sounded hoarse. It was about time…

"Maybe you could fight the dog?" Aviana suggested. "You won't get punished..."

He interrupted her by suddenly leaning over and kissing her. This moment he felt a deep regret about what he was going to do. If only the situation were different, if only she hadn't been so trusting. A cutie like her didn't deserve to die.

But he banned these thoughts quickly, this was still about his secret! And if he finally got out of this goddamned place there would be a bunch of women waiting for him, no cute girls like Aviana but real attractive women.

With this thought he broke away from her. While Aviana was still in a daze, he gently held her face between his hands and without another moment of hesitation he smashed her head against the wall. If she was lucky she wouldn't wake up again, he thought.

REMAINING STUDENTS: 13

 **And we're done with Part 2 of this!**

 **Anyway, I started the poll again so you can vote for whoever you'd like to see in the next Freetime Events!**


	29. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter I

**Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you're ready for the next stage.**

 **WendyDokuro:** **Oh, sorry. Yes, the shot actually happened after the last scene of the special, I didn't add it because I didn't want to describe the entire killing. Do you think it would be better to add it so it's less confusing for people?**

 **And about who she liked, I intentionally made that pretty vague so people can imagine whatever they want. I have an idea though.**

This night I had trouble to fall asleep. It wasn't the gruesome sights of the dead we had seen that were haunting me, it was the fact that two more of my classmates had died. How many more would have to die, too?

Aviana had been a really nice girl if you got to know her better, so very full of life that it was infectious. Like a pearl in a hard shell, at first sight there was nothing but when the shell opened you could see a sparkling beauty.

And Hachiku or Junpei, he hadn't been a nice person but he was so interesting to study. I would miss his hostile behaviour. Now that I knew about his background I had so many more questions I wanted to ask him. Both of them were gone forever.

When Monokuma's ever so cheerful announcement woke me up the next morning I decided not to be too depressed by what happened and rather enjoy the time with the others as long as there were with me. I tried to smile and it worked as well as always.

Yet when I entered the dining room barely anyone else was there. Daichi, Akira, Ari, that was everyone. "How are you guys?" I greeted them with a careful smile.

I wasn't even sure if Akira heard me at all, Ari just shrugged and Daichi just asked back "Well, how do you feel?"

"This isn't about me, let's rather talk about you," I replied and he calmly countered with a "I'm asking the questions, all right?" I had the feeling we could have continued like this for quite a while but were interrupted as the door suddenly flew open.

Marilyn entered, obviously fuming. She kicked one chair out of the way, punched her fists into the table and glared at us. Automatically I took a few steps back. She didn't look like a girl any more, but rather like a bubbling volcano. I had never seen her that angry before, after Alice's death she showed a little outburst but now she was like a raging fire.

"How could that have happened?" she asked and I noticed how her accent got stronger when she was angry. "How could this fucked-up bear get us to kill once more? Damn it, I will make this stop! Every tyrant comes down in the end!" She nodded fiercely before saluting shortly and leaving the room again.

"We should probably be careful that she doesn't do anything dangerous," Daichi said casually. We finished our breakfast in silence, no one found the drive to say a word. It made me a bit sad to see how we all just kept silent and the atmosphere got more and more gloomy until it was unbearable. I knew it wasn't only because two of our classmates had died, it was also because of Hachiku's words. They had pierced us deeply, as they made clear of how little worth friendships were here.

It didn't matter that we promised us not to kill, that we tried to become friends. Monokuma seemed to be ahead of us, driving students to suddenly murder each other. Was this despair?

Well, I was ready to study it! I couldn't think of a motive making me kill one of my friends and I also wasn't really afraid of ending up as a victim. But even if I got killed in the end, wasn't that better than just locking me up in my room and wait in fear? This place was horrible and still I felt so glad that I managed to get accepted at Hope's Peak Academy, I was so glad that I had been able to meet all these fascinating students.

No matter what Monokuma would do I would keep on spending time with them and try to get to know them better!

Unfortunately the others didn't seem to share my opinion. After the breakfast the few who had been there just went their ways in silence and the others didn't seem to leave their rooms anymore. I tried to knock on some doors but they either didn't react at all or sent me away. Tani actually told me we should better avoid each other to prevent any more betrayals.

I also couldn't find Marilyn anywhere which worried me a bit. But even worse I felt bored. Fitting to the mood it had started to rain outside, so I didn't think about leaving the hostel. Everyone just wanted to be alone, no one even crossed my way. It was so terribly frustrating!

I was so bored that I even thought about watching some of Monokuma's horrible shows on TV but then I changed my mind. Why should I give up so easily? Eventually someone would get hungry, so I would just have to wait in the kitchen until someone appeared and don't let them just leave again.

The first one to come in was actually Tokaku. She looked absolutely horrible. Her pitch-black hair was a wild mess, her usual beautiful eyes bloodshot, her clothes completely crinkled as if she had slept in them. There was no sign of the cheerful girl I got to know anymore. She ignored me completely as she just dragged her feet towards a cupboard and automatically made some tea.

"How are you feeling, Tokaku?" I asked her, trying to sound as empathetic as I could. She just looked down at the spoon she hold, making little circles in the hot water. "I thought of making a typical Japanese breakfast," she said with a dull voice. Unbelievable that this voice used to be so enchanting. "Avi loved it. I promised her to show her my home town when we're out of here." She didn't cry but her voice was shaking. "I promised..."

"I am so sorry," I said but I wasn't sure if she even heard my words as she just kept on staring into her cup. "Tokaku, I'm sure she can still see you from somewhere. You know how much she loved these mystical things, someone like her doesn't just die and vanish. And I'm sure right now she is very happy that you thought about her."

Tokaku closed her eyes, an almost painful expression on her face. I had no idea if my words were helping or just making it worse but I couldn't stop myself from talking. After all this was everything I could do.

Someone else entered the kitchen and I quickly recognised the tall figure of Jason. He looked insecure as he spotted us and tried to get away again. "Jason, how nice to see you," I said quickly before he could leave. "H-hello," he murmured.

"It's good you came here," I continued. "It wouldn't be good if we all just stayed by ourselves. We need to overcome this together!" He was scared, I could almost feel his fear. But somehow he managed to shake it off and nod slightly. "I w-would l-like to h-help. Tokaku, I'm s-so sorry for your loss. We won't ever forget Aviana!"

His voice got stronger by the end of his words and both me and Tokaku looked at him in surprise. I guess that was what a good side-kick should be able to do, spending some comfort with encouraging words.

"You could help by convincing the others that we have to stick together," I suggested and after only a little moment of hesitation he nodded. Well, perfect.

I was determined to get the others out of their rooms as well and so I left Jason with Tokaku (both of them didn't appear like they would murder anyone soon) and made my way to the dorm rooms. Near the stairs I spotted Reece and quickly got by his side. "Hello there. Where are you going?"

He just looked dejected. "I want to dismantle the trap," he murmured and I remembered the hole we had dug together. "But it's raining!" I said and he just shrugged without looking up. "I'm used to it."

"You don't feel guilty, do you?" I asked and apparently nailed it as he clenched his fists and burst out "If only I had been more careful about my plans laying around, Hachiku or however that bastard was called wouldn't have been able to use it! I can't stop thinking about Aviana hanging from the ceiling just because of my stupid plan!"

"Then he would have killed her another way," I tried to reassure him. "It was only bad luck that he found your plan and used it. But it wasn't the reason he killed. So, it is absolutely not your fault."

I didn't have the feeling that I got through to him as Reece still looked unusually depressed. "I'm sorry, Lewis. I just want to be alone for a bit."

I first thought of just staying with him anyway but finally I changed my opinion. "All right. We'll see each other later, okay?" "Sure," he replied and slowly went down the stairs. I watched him with pity and decided to give him a bit of time for himself before trying to cheer him up.

For now I would check on the others. Automatically I went to Panini's door and knocked until she opened. There was barely any space left in the room as she had filled it with canvas. "I'm never going to the atelier again," she proclaimed with a trembling voice as I entered. Her apron was covered in paint splatters, she even had some spots on her face. She didn't look at me, just kept on painting frantically. On her bed I could see some paintings laying around and as I came nearer I could see Aviana smile at me.

It was a lovely portrait she made, just like those of Alice and Ammy before. Aviana looked so alive on the painting, with a hint of bravery in her green eyes. Underneath it I even found one of Hachiku. And next to it one of Tokaku.

"You know, she isn't dead yet," I said softly and Panini turned around to me, paint brush in hand and an almost crazy expression in her eyes. "Yet," she echoed. "But she could die any time! You all could! You heard what he said, we won't make it out of here again." And then she fell to her knees and started to cry.

"He was wrong," I heard me say as I knelt down next to her. "How should he know how we would act? Just because he killed for a petty reason, why should we all do the same?"

Panini almost knocked me over as she suddenly hugged me. "Please, don't die!" she cried. "Please, please, please, don't die!" "I won't," I promised, patting her back softly. I held her close until she stopped shaking and even then she didn't stop hugging me as if she feared I would die the second she let me go.

Apparently I hadn't closed the door right when I came in since all of a sudden Marilyn was standing in the room. "I'm sorry to disturb," she said, wiping one wet hair strand out of her face. "But has any of you seen Sandrine? I searched the entire hostel and around it but she is nowhere to be found!"

 **I know nothing much happened here but I thought that the students need some time to recover now.**

 **Reviews would be very much appreciated as always and if you haven't yet don't forget to vote.**


	30. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter II

**Thank you all for the reviews!**

 **WendyDokuro : Yes, it might be worse this time. After the first trial there was the shock that it happened but they could still say that it was something terrible that would never happen again. But now it happened again and they have to face the fact that it could happen again and again. **

**TheRoseShadow21 : Thanks a lot, I'm glad you see it like this!**

 **RubyLeo : Poor Junpei… It will take a bit but I'm curious how you like the next case. **

"Where was the last place you saw her?" I asked Marilyn after I had carefully freed myself from Panini's grip. The girl immediately started to draw Sandrine and I could only hope that this wasn't a bad omen.

"She had been in her room this morning," Marilyn remembered. "I also didn't see her leaving it." "Well, what if she's still in her room and just not answering?" I suggested, making her stare in disbelief. "'Just not answering?' If she fainted in her room no one could enter to help her! That would be horrible! Maybe I should kick in the door immediately!"

"No wait!" I could already see Monokuma punishing her for that. "Have you checked your handbook?"

She looked at me in confusion and then shook her head. "I totally forgot! Sorry, I'm just so..." Worried, yes. It was written all over her face.

I looked down at my own handbook to see where Sandrine's was located. To my confusion it was beyond the usual borders as apparently our territory had increased in size once again. Only then I realised that it had always been Aviana who informed us about such things as she had always been the first one to explore outside.

As I told Marilyn about it she nodded in determination. "Alright, I'll go and look for her!" "I come with you," I promised and bid goodbye to Panini who had almost already finished her painting of Sandrine and apparently planned to paint Marilyn and me next.

As we left the house it was still raining, even worse than before. We found Reece sitting next to the little piece of ground where he had successfully dismantled his trap. He looked so desperate that I quickly stepped towards him and asked "I know you said you wanted to be alone, but maybe you could help us? We're looking for Sandrine."

"Of course," he replied and I somehow hoped that he would be the one to find her as it probably would make him feel better again.

While we were walking forward the weather got worse and worse. Rain whipped almost painfully in our faces, squalls made it hard to even step forward and from the dark grey sky we could hear thunder growling. Quickly my clothes were soaked and I could barely see what was shown on the screen of my handbook. It was absolutely amazing!

Of course I knew rain but this was more, this was something I would have never been allowed to experience. Neither Marilyn nor Reece lost a word about it though and I had the feeling they were more used to weathers like that.

We left the known streets and entered the new area. I realised that there were less houses here and instead more trees and bushes. Also I could hear something that sounded like water nearby. Marilyn was storming ahead without paying attention to it and so I asked Reece "Do you hear this?" He frowned slightly as he stopped to listen. "Don't tell me there is a river here."

Curiously I stepped forward towards the direction of the sound. I expected the ground to get muddier when I reached the riverbank but it remained solid. Instead it suddenly just vanished and I had a moment time to realise that I was falling before I hit the water. Immediately the cold embraced me and I swallowed a mouthful of water as I sunk down into the darkness. Yet the only thing I could think of was that I always thought fire would be a danger, not water.

There was a splash and suddenly I felt someone pulling me to the surface again. For his small height Reece was surprisingly strong as he managed to bring us both back to the shore.

Only as we were laying on solid ground and I had coughed out all the -thankfully not salty- water I really realised what just happened. I stared at Reece with wide eyes. "Did...did you just save me?"

He was panting for breath and glared at me. "Damn it, be more careful! I can't believe you made me jump into this!" I couldn't help but smile. "Thank you so much! I can't swim, if you haven't jumped in... I probably would have died."

Now he was staring at me. "Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to walk towards a turbulent water when you can't swim?!"

By now Marilyn had come running to us. "Boys, this is not the time for swimming," she scolded us. "I'm sorry," I replied while we were getting on our feet again. "I fell and Reece saved me." "Really?" Marilyn looked at the boy in surprise and then clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done, soldier!"

I could see that Reece's face lit up a bit. _Look who gets his confidence back…_ I just realised that I was trembling as Marilyn took off her long coat and offered it to me. I felt a bit embarrassed to take her clothes but I really felt like I was freezing. "Isn't that too cold for you?" I asked and she shrugged it off. "I'm used to the cold anyway. And now let's go, Sandrine is still missing!"

 _Oh no_ … "I lost my handbook," I said and Marilyn quickly grabbed my wrist. "You won't jump in there again to get it back! We'll just use mine."

Of course she was right but I still felt uncomfortable that my handbook was gone. If it broke due to the water, would Monokuma punish me for that?

We went on and slowly entered something that looked like a forest. Here it was even darker and we had to be careful not to stumble about something while the shaking tree limbs kept on letting small twigs fall down on us. And I felt so incredibly cold that I could hear my teeth chatter. By now I had started to hate this weather.

"She hasn't moved at all," Marilyn commented worriedly as she eyed her handbook. "If something happened to her..." And then Reece shouted "Over here!"

At the foot of a tree we could see a huddled figure and quickly hurried over there. "Sandrine!" Marilyn called out and wanted to run to the girl's side. Sandrine lifted her head and stared at her wide-eyed. "No!" she yelled. "Stay away! Leave me alone!"

Marilyn stopped and looked at her in surprise. "Sandrine, what are you doing? We had been worried about you!" The smaller girl wildly shook her head as she cried. "Go away! I don't want this anymore! Just leave me alone!"

She had been nervous before but now she was completely desperate. Obviously this entire situation was way too much for her. We could only try to calm her down.

"Sandrine, no one wants to hurt you," I said. "You can trust us, right?"

"No!" she cried out. "How could I? How should I know you're not going to kill?!"

"We're your friends," I tried to convince her but Marilyn interrupted me. "Damn it, Sandrine, you know you can trust us! Or at least you can trust me! I would never let anyone hurt you!" Sandrine stared at her in surprise before she sobbed "I wish Alice was here!"

Marilyn sounded much softer as she now approached the girl. "I know, I really wish that, too. But we still have us, don't we?" Sandrine bit her lip and nodded. "Please, don't run away again," Marilyn continued. "I can only protect you if we stay together. So, let us go back, all right?"

"I can't," Sandrine whispered. "I hurt my ankle." Without a moment of hesitation Marilyn lifted her up as if she wouldn't weigh anything. "Don't worry about it, that will heal soon." And so she went ahead while Sandrine buried her face into Marilyn's shoulder and Reece and me followed. Apparently the rescue mission had been a success, now we only needed to survive the way back.

Somehow I had hoped that now we could get closer again but still everyone remained on their own. The weather wasn't getting better either and my throat started to feel scratchy which made the situation even worse. I had a horrible night and woke up with a terrible headache. _Great, looks like I caught something…_

I spent the day alone, the others remained in their rooms and I didn't have the energy trying to convince them of spending time together. Also I didn't want them to pick up whatever I had caught, hoping that it would just go away again. But instead the headache was only getting worse and I could barely sleep because of coughing attacks.

The next day I felt so horrible I decided it would be better for me just to stay in bed for the rest of it.

Unfortunately now someone knocked on my door and since they didn't stop it I had to go open it. Reece was standing in front of it, scratching the back of his head. "Well, um, you haven't been at breakfast so I thought I should check if you're okay... Man, you don't look so good."

"Yes, I'm not feeling so good," I responded and coughed. "I'll just stay in bed, alright?" My vision started to blur a bit and I blinked to focus. Reece eyed me worriedly. "You should better. I'll keep the door open, okay?"

It was probably better, so people could check on me but it also would make me the easiest victim possible. But that moment I didn't care, I just wanted to sleep.

I had no idea how long I slept until I woke up, feeling weak and dizzy, only to see Ammy sitting next to my bed. As she noticed I was awake she smiled at me and bowed slightly. "I, Amelia D'Lacey, the Ultimate Magician, has come to your entertainment, dear audience! Now look closely for my greatest trick!" She lifted her top hat and pulled a bunny out of it. Immediately the animal jumped on my head, smothering me with his thick fur, his paws hammering painfully against my head.

As I woke up again Ammy had prepared a cup of tee for me and offered it to me with a nice smile. "No," I protested weakly. "You poisoned it."

"Don't be silly," she smiled. "Of course I didn't. Come on, you need to drink something." I struggled weakly as she forced me to drink the never ending amount of comepltely tasteless tea.

Then Ammy suddenly vanished and instead there was Alice, smiling at me. "You'll be fine," he said. "Don't worry."

"Sandrine is missing you," I croaked out and his smile got a bit sad. "I know. I'm missing her, too." Then he started to hum a melody. I was sure I never heard it before but somehow it felt familiar, though before I could think more about it I fell asleep again.

I awoke due to a pleasantly cold hand on my forehead and as I blinked I could see Aviana leaning over me. She smiled slightly before she said "I'll become a demon hunter now." "Can you make the headache go away?" I asked weakly and she softly stroked my hair. "I'll try my best."

While I was hovering between awake and asleep I thought I could hear her tell her stories as she went on and on about all the places she would love to visit. Surprisingly often it was about Italy.

Then the dog was sitting next to me, wiping some foam from its jaws. "You know, it doesn't hurt for so long," he said. "I can tell, I've been sick for a very long time." "You are dead," I rasped and he simply shrugged. "If you say so." He started to foam again and I closed my eyes to banish this view.

When I opened them again Hachiku was standing there, his arms crossed. As usual he didn't look like he wanted to talk to me but finally he growled something. "How long will you stay down? Now man up a bit and get out of bed!"

The next time I woke up I finally felt better for the first time. Panini was sitting next to me and smiled as I looked at her. "How are you?" she asked and I tried to return her smile. "Better, thank you." Indeed my throat didn't hurt anymore and the headache was almost gone as well. I only felt terribly thirsty but Panini already offered me a glass of water.

"It was so hard to make you drink something," she told me. "You kept on murmuring something about poison." I couldn't remember that but it felt good to have something to drink. "How are Sandrine and Reece?" I asked, remembering our walk through the storm. Just then I noticed that the weather had got better again, the sun shone happily through my window.

"Oh, they are fine," Panini replied with a smile. "Everyone's fine." Indeed she sounded way less desperate than before and I felt a bit confused about what happened. "How long did I sleep?" I wanted to know and almost choked on my water as she replied "You had a fever for almost a week, I think." She frowned. "I was so worried! I thought you would die although you promised me you wouldn't!"

"Well, I'm fine now," I replied but I still couldn't believe that so much time had passed.

"And Sandrine got this for you," Panini continued and showed me my handbook laying on my bedside cabinet. "Sandrine?!" I asked in disbelief. Why would this nervous little girl jump into this hell of a water just to look for my things?

Panini nodded. "Yes. She felt a bit guilty that you lost it in the swimming pool while you were looking for her so she decided to dive for it. She really likes swimming." "Swimming pool?" I asked weakly and she nodded again. "Yes, didn't you notice? It's a huge swimming pool! It's so beautiful!"

Apparently the others had recovered again and now everyone was having fun at a swimming pool which looked like a murderous river when it was raining. Well, things could be worse...

 **Now finally there will be some Freetime Events, so vote if you haven't yet. And leave a review while you're at it.**


	31. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter III

**Guest** **: It's okay. Ari is alive and he has appeared few times in the previous chapters. Though yes, he didn't have so much screen time recently, which means he will definitely get some later on.**

 **Reapergenesis32 & Unawakened Spirit** **: Thanks a lot to you! I'm glad you liked the part!**

 **RubyLeo** **: I'm glad you liked it that much! (And that you even have favourite chapters...) And you're quite right about that, most of the time Panini was there but since the dead are still very much on his mind he hallucinated them to be there instead.**

I had recovered from the sickness but I still felt weak, probably from not leaving the bed for almost a week and barely consuming any food. Nevertheless, I wasn't planning on spending any more day in bed, that would be too boring to bear. Panini had left again so I could get changed and just as I felt ready to finally leave the room I heard a soft knocking on the door.

It was Vivienne who surprisingly shy entered the room. "How are you?" she asked a bit awkwardly and I smiled. "It could be better but it's fine." I noticed how hoarse my voice was and saw some uneasiness on her face.

"I made this for you," she said quickly and offered me a plate with something that looked like a very thin pancake. She didn't look me in the eyes as she quickly continued "Do you remember when we had this little cooking competition? Back, when everything had been all right? You and Reece were in a group with me and I...I didn't help at all, I just mocked you for your cooking skills. But…the truth is I don't know how to cook. I never had to at home. We had a private cook for that. But I feel sorry that I let you down back then, so… I made a crêpe myself. I hope it won't be worse than yours."

"That's hardly possible," I replied with a smile as I remembered that ours had burnt down completely at that time. "That's really nice of you, Vivienne."

Either she was really talented or she had practised a lot since this crêpe tasted great. It also felt great to eat something and I was honestly grateful that Vivienne had thought of it. She hesitated some more before she admitted "I actually had wanted to talk to you." It was obvious she had something on her mind and so I suggested "We could take a walk then, couldn't we? I would like to see the new area in good weather again."

"If you think you can make that," Vivienne said and nodded. "I'd like to show you around." And so we left together. I was walking quite slow but Vivienne paid it no mind as she adapted herself to my pace. "I'm glad you're fine again," she confessed. "We had no idea how to handle the situation. You could have had some weird virus of this village and no one knew if it was infectious or dangerous or just a normal cold. And we have no medication or anything else helpful here."

"I'm sorry I made you worry," I said and watched her carefully. She didn't look at me and I had the feeling there was something else she actually wanted to talk about.

"I'm feeling really terrible," she finally said quietly. "When you were sick… I somehow felt jealous."

"Why?" I asked, honestly surprised. "I felt horrible."

"I know, I'm sorry," she replied. "But...everyone was so worried about you. Panini barely left your room." "Really?" I asked, trying to remember that but it was in vain. "Yes," Vivienne nodded slightly. "If it weren't for Monokuma she would have stayed the night as well. And Jason was also there most of the time to help."

I told myself that I had to thank them later. But now I had to say something reassuring to Vivienne as I could see what troubled her. "If you were sick everyone would be worried, too," I assured her but she just frowned.

"Really?" she asked fiercely. "Why should anyone care about me? I never did anything helpful! When the dog attacked Tani I hid like a coward! I wasn't of any help at the trial – I'm just too scared to think straight when it comes to it! And when you got sick, I didn't even dare to look after you because I didn't want to become sick as well. Plus...I was never nice to anyone. Why should they worry about me? And now don't tell me because I'm rich and pretty! I don't want to be liked just because of that!"

It was obvious that this really bothered her and once more I could see the crack in her façade. We were coming closer to the problem.

I blinked and then suddenly just collapsed. Vivienne quickly turned around to catch me the last second. "Oh no, I'm sorry! You just got up for the first time and here I am, only talking about myself."

"And yet you didn't let me fall," I said and winked at her. "I didn't need to worry because I knew you would catch me."

She blushed. "You tricked me! I was actually afraid you would faint here without anyone around!"

"I tried to show you why you're likeable," I explained calmly. "If you actually just cared about yourself you wouldn't have been so quick to react. Also, you're an amazing person or else you wouldn't have an Ultimate Talent! You didn't just get the title because you're rich, right? You also possess a unique talent and I'm sure many people love watching your show for a good reason. When you talk about something everyone can see how much you care about it.

And during the Trial when Tokaku was accused you were the one to defend her. That's what a good friend would do, isn't it?"

"You're just too nice," she mumbled, looking away, and I smiled at her. "You're nice to me, too. No mocking, no superciliousness. Actually you never opened up that much before. And I noticed before that you tried to socialise more. It looks like you're trying to change and that's already worth a lot, isn't it?"

Vivienne smiled almost relieved and for the rest of the walk we changed the topic. Apparently Tokaku had recovered enough that she continued making meals, even without Aviana's help. Instead Jason had offered to help her out and I hoped he would manage to cheer Tokaku up a bit.

Soon we approached the forest which looked much nicer and less threatening than the last time I was here. Strong trees were reaching into the sky, offering a nice tranquillity as well as some other signs of life like little animals. It was a nice place to just walk around but by now I didn't have any strength left for that.

"The others are probably at the swimming pool," Vivienne explained. "We're often meeting there since the weather got better." Without another word she had let me lean on her when she noticed my exhaustion. _What did I say? She is a nice girl hiding behind a smug façade._

Thankfully the swimming pool wasn't far away anymore and I could hear the familiar sound of water again. Yet as we came nearer it was a totally different view than before. Now it obviously looked like a giant swimming pool for people to enjoy and not to drown in. There was a small hill for jumping into the water as well as a nice little beach which had to be artificial though. "I really love the beach," Vivienne let me know, looking at the glistening water with sparkling eyes.

Then someone was walking towards us and I quickly recognised Panini. As she saw Vivienne and me walking arm in arm she frowned slightly but just said "Lewis, I'm glad you made it here! The pool is so beautiful, I waited for days to show it to you!"

"Then let's not waste another minute," Vivienne said, quickly starting to undress which was somehow pretty hypnotising. Finally she was just wearing a daring white bikini with some little pink stones attached to it. "Does it look good?" she asked curiously and I nodded. "Definitely."

She returned my smile. "I made it fitting to my hair and eyes and used some rose quartz jewellery I finally found. I think I will use it for my fashion line. Well then… see you later." And with that she rushed down to the water.

"No, no, no," Panini protested as she was gone. "You mustn't flirt with Vivienne!"

"Why not?" I asked curiously and she explained "Well, you know, I feel really sorry for Tokaku because of everything. So I hoped she and Vivienne would become a couple. It would make both of them very happy, I'm sure of it." She beamed about her great plan.

Well, if Tokaku needed a girlfriend to recover from Aviana's death Vivienne was probably the best choice, as Panini had already rejected her and neither Marilyn, Sandrine nor Tani seemed to have an interest in Tokaku.

"Well then, let me show you the pool," Panini said, grabbing my hand, and we went over to the little beach where the others had already left their things. As I looked over to the water I could see some swimmers. Tani (swimsuit) was like a fish, it was obvious how much she loved to be in water which was only fitting for the Ultimate Fisher. Marilyn (terribly old-fashioned bathing suit) and Sandrine (simple black bikini) were obviously enjoying themselves as well as they both were swimming laps.

Artyom was laying on the water, his arms crossed behind his head, making it look very easy. Apparently he enjoyed the tranquillity of it. Jason had taken off his vest and rolled up his trousers as we sitting next to the pool, feet in the water, and drawing something in his pad.

As Panini and I approached the beach Reece went towards us, wearing bathing trunks and a wide grin on his face. "Man, it's good to see you on your feet again," he greeted me. "You honestly scared me!" "Sorry," I said with an apologising smile. "But it looks like we all have recovered now."

"Yes, somehow," he replied and then lowered his voice. "This suddenly turned into a beach-paradise. Just look at all these hot girls here!"

"I heard you," Panini said and he smiled a bit awkward. "Anyway, it's nice having you around again." Then he made his way back to the place he and Ari had chosen for themselves. The taller boy was still laying there, completely relaxed like usual.

"Look, I have prepared a beach towel," Panini told me excitedly and dragged me into the direction of it. "You can just sit down there, alright?"

I did as she said, somehow glad that I didn't have to walk anymore as I still felt a bit weak. Looking around I noticed Tokaku who was also laying on a bath towel and tanning her skin some more. Compared to the state I saw her in the morning after the Trial she looked much better, showing her great body in a pitch-black bikini.

I noticed that she was watching us and she quickly smiled as she realised I had caught her.

"Does it look good?" Panini suddenly asked, probably unintentionally imitating Vivienne, and I saw that she was wearing a bikini now as well. It was yellow which was first my favourite colour and second somehow looking great on her tanned skin. This was weird somehow, the girl in front of me was still Panini and at the same time something was different. Probably because I was so used to her wearing her apron. I quickly looked away and replied "Sure, it does."

"I'm glad you like it," Panini said happily. "Back in Italy we were a lot of times at the beach and I was always wearing something similar to this. Maybe you remember, I told you a lot of stories about Italy." I couldn't really remember but this was a good moment to thank her. "Vivienne told me you spent so much time looking after me," I said. "You risked getting sick yourself and I'm really grateful for that." I looked over to her and saw her smile. "Oh, don't worry, of course I did that. I just wanted you to get back to health as quick as possible." Softly humming something she started to scribble something into the sand and after a while I said "You already did so much, you don't have to stay with me. You can go into the water if you'd like to."

"Oh no, no," she smiled at me. "I don't mind staying here. So I can take care that nothing happens to you." I wasn't sure what she thought could happen to me here but it was her decision.

I noticed Vivienne wasn't in the water either, instead she was wandering around through the sand, looking just like a model on some magazine's cover. As she came near the relaxing boys, Ari who so far had watched her with half-closed eyes suddenly sat up and said something which made her sit next to them. I watched them chat for a while, noticing how her long hair fell down on her flawless skin.

"Maybe I should tell the other boys about my plan as well," Panini said, stretching out next to me and I could almost feel Tokaku's gaze on us.

As I turned my head I could see Daichi sitting on the hill, completely dressed, watching all of us and taking notes. Somehow this situation felt a bit awkward. And then as I closely looked around once more I suddenly noticed something else.

"Panini?" I asked and she looked up with a smile. "Yes?"

"Have you seen Akira anywhere?"

She blinked in surprise. "Yes, I asked him to come with us because the pool is so nice but he didn't want to. He said he was busy with something important. He didn't even want to play hide and seek with me." Sometimes I really wondered who of them was more of a child.

However, I didn't like the idea of Akira being all alone on his own while everyone else was out and I wondered if I should go and see what he was doing. But walking all the way back seemed to be terribly exhausting.

Finally I decided to go looking for him later and to rest some more for now...


	32. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter IV

**RubyLeo** **: I'm not sure if it's her character or my portrayal but Vivi sure has some original aspects on her. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the Panini-part and yes, that were FTEs. (I knew you just call me Iffy because it's a nice nickname but I'm just still very surprised that my new name has a meaning ^^)**

 **FireDusk** **: Thanks for the review! A game would be pretty cool… Anyway, nice theories, you will see this chapter.**

"Wake up, sleepyhead." I blinked as someone gently stroked my hair and realised that the sun had almost set. The others were dressed again and apparently about to leave. As I looked to the pool I noticed that it was empty, not only that no one was inside, the water was also gone.

"Every evening at some time the water vanishes," Panini explained quickly. "And in the morning it gets back! So, no swimming at night time."

"I wouldn't anyway," I reminded her and she frowned slightly. "Are you really sure you can't swim? You should definitely learn it then, it's important." I promised her to think about it but I actually didn't want to get into the water so soon again...

The next morning I could finally attend the breakfast again and it was nice to see everyone together once more. Marilyn and Sandrine had wet hair as they had already been swimming early and the usual nervous girl looked far more cheerful than before. I also watched Akira who appeared to be tired but that was quite normal for him. I should speak to him later though but for now I had something else on my mind.

After our breakfast I went to the living room where some of the others had already gathered. Daichi and Ari had started a game of chess (it was obvious who would win but Ari just couldn't resist a challenge) and Jason sat near by, drawing something into his notebook.

I quickly approached him and smiled as he didn't flinch when I greeted him. Maybe he was getting a bit more confident here? "I still wanted to thank you," I said. "I heard you were taking care of me when I was sick, so thanks!"

"S-sure, it was no problem," he replied. "I w-was j-just helping Panini out."

"Still it's great you did so," I smiled. "You're also helping Tokaku out in the kitchen! I think our group really needs someone like you. But I guess, that's your talent. Being an Ultimate Sidekick appears to be very useful."

"It is," he said without looking at me. Obviously he didn't want to talk about his talent which disappointed me a bit as I was curious how he got it. But sure he would tell me his back story after I gained some more of his trust. Until then I would have to talk about something else to get to know him better.

I looked down at his drawing and noticed immediately that he was much better at it then Reece. He was drawing something that looked like science-fictional robots, not too detailed but still nice to look at. "What are those?" I asked curiously and he averted his gaze as he explained "I r-really like m-mecha a-anime, so I s-started to d-design some m-myself."

"How nice," I said although I wasn't exactly sure what counted as mecha. Probably futuristic robots. "So you like anime?" I asked and he nodded. "Y-yes, very much. I also read m-manga." "And comic books about superheroes," I remembered and he nodded once more. "W-what about you?" he dared to ask then. This was too bad, I just knew that anime existed but I never watched any. Also I never read any comic books, it never even came to my mind that I could do so.

"Sorry, no," I replied. "I never tried something like that. But maybe we could watch something like that together one day?" He seemed surprised by that but then he agreed with a careful smile. "I-if you'd like to. B-but you should be c-careful with the g-genre. B-by the w-way, I thought I t-try to draw some c-comic..."

"A great idea," I replied. "If it's done I would love to read it." My answer seemed to relieve him. "O-okay. Tokaku h-has encouraged me to do so. She s-said she would love to read one more American comic... I'm glad you like the idea, too."

 _So, Jason likes Japanese anime and Tokaku likes American comics? How funny..._

I assured Jason once more that he should keep on drawing and decided to talk to Tokaku next. As I left the living room I could hear Daichi saying "checkmate" and Ari challenging him to a return match. Some things were nice as they never changed.

Tokaku was outside, on her way back from the mall and I was relieved to see her smile. I missed her cheerful attitude after Aviana's death and was glad she had recovered once more. Also I had been a bit afraid she could feel jealous about Panini spending time with me and it was nice to see that she wasn't mad.

"How are you?" she greeted me and I returned her smile. "I'm feeling much better, thank you. How about you? Are you all right?"

She sighed and showed me the bag she carried with her. I could see a little plush fox as well as some books. "I know Avi would have loved to read them," she explained. "I made a little shrine in her room and I thought I bring her these things. And I'd like to plant some flowers, too." "This is really nice of you," I said, impressed by her thoughtfulness.

She simply shrugged. "That's all I can do for her after all. You know, I really want to advance. But I also don't want to forget Avi. She doesn't deserve this." She looked up to me with a somehow brave smile. "I always wished to find my one true love and then settle down with her and live a great life. But by now I have learnt something else. You shouldn't think about eternity and rather enjoy every second you get since you don't know what can happen next. Wow, I sounded so wise right now! Amazing, right?" She laughed to cover up her sadness.

"Maybe… if I talked to Panini...," I offered, making her roll her eyes. "You don't get it. Thanks for the offer but I have accepted that she just wants to be friends. Though that doesn't mean that I will stop trying to convince her of me." She winked at me and smiled. "But you don't try to help me out there, I know Nini wouldn't want that."

And with that she decided to change the topic and rather talk about Takako Nishiyama, a beautiful super heroine with hypnotic powers which absolutely had to make an appearance in Jason's comic.

Despite the fun that I had today I didn't forget about my plan to talk with Akira and so I finally knocked on his door this late afternoon. "Oh, it's you," he greeted me, rubbing his eyes wearily. "You are all right again, aren't you?"

"Yes, thank you," I replied as I entered the room. "I was more concerned about you. You weren't with the others at the pool so I wondered if everything is all right."

"Yes," he said with a tired little smile. "I just don't really like being outside. And I was working on something." Right, Panini had said he was busy with something. For a moment he kept a thoughtful silence and then he told me "I felt bad for the last trial. If I had hacked into the system of our handbooks once more it would have been more easy for us to find the murderer."

"We still managed to," I reassured him. "And you did great there."

He smiled a bit. "It is nice of you to say that. But still I am sure it would be better for us if we could observe where everyone had been like in the first trial. I do hope nothing bad will happen anymore but just to be sure I'm trying to find a way into the system. After the first trial Monokuma had made sure that it is better protected."

Though that was a good plan of him I knew it would also be quite dangerous. If someone actually wanted to commit a murder they would probably see Akira as a threat and try to get rid of him as soon as possible. I knew it meant a lot that he actually entrusted me with his plan and I would make sure I wouldn't tell anyone else about it.

 **This one is pretty short, next one probably gets longer again.**

 **And now I have a question for you, my dear readers: So far I have been putting a lot of chapters between the trials, so things can evolve and characters can interact more with each other.**

 **Do you like that or should I better make the trials come quicker?**

 **Please tell me your opinion.**


	33. Truth or Dare Special

**I'm sorry for the wait, I just recovered from a bad cold myself. I hope the chapter still turned out all right. Anyway, thanks for the reviews I got and here we go again.**

 **TheRoseShadow21 : Thank you, I'm glad you support this! **

**Colossal Fighter GX: Don't worry, I don't intent to abandon this story. It may take a bit longer when I'm bedridden or busy with work but I won't stop writing as long as I get reviews.**

 **RubyLeo** **: Haha, well, don't give up hope. xD And I'm not sure if this chapter is enough but consider it a fun event.**

I was still thinking about Akira's attempts to help us as Panini nearly bumped into me. "Oh, it's good that I found you," she said cheerfully. "I was thinking about how all of us could have some fun and how to put my plan into action!" "What plan?" I asked confused and she knocked on my forehead with a frown. "How could you forget already? My plan for Tokaku and Vivienne to become a couple!"

Oh, that… "And what came to your mind?" I asked and she smiled mysteriously. "Just wait and see! I try to make everyone gather in the living room, so see you there!"

Miraculously everyone really came together and once everyone has sat down somewhere Panini proclaimed excitedly "How about we all play a game?" "Let me guess, Hide and seek?" Vivienne asked with a slightly sarcastic smirk. Panini just shook her head happily. "Even better! What do you think of Truth or Dare?"

"I'm out," Tani said, already looking annoyed but Ari held her back. "Aw, come on, don't spoil the fun." "How do you play that?" Sandrine asked a bit nervously and Panini explained it proudly. "It's really easy, you either play Truth or Dare. So let's say I start with Dare and choose someone, so I dare them to do something. And then they choose someone and ask a question they have to ask totally and absolutely honestly! And then we continue like this! Oh and we probably should be careful with it because we have a C-H-I..." "She means me," Akira said calmly.

"Alright, let's do it!" Marilyn called out enthusiastically. "I volunteer for a dare!" Panini looked happy about it. "Okay, let me think of something… How about this? Can you imitate someone of us?"

"Sure thing," Marilyn nodded and took of her jabot, trying to fan herself with it. "Well, I am richer than anyone of you," she said, horribly trying to imitate a French accent. "So you should better treat me like a princess." She chuckled smugly and everyone had to laugh. Vivienne threw her head back and crossed her arms but I could see her smile.

Marilyn pointed with her jabot at Sandrine and said "Then I choose you for Truth." Sandrine winced a bit. "Okay?"

Marilyn seemed to think of a rather harmless question for the nervous girl and decided to ask "Well, what would be your greatest wish?"

Sandrine's face lit up a bit. "Oh, that's simple. I would love to master every language in the world." I remembered how she could already speak so many fluently and I was somehow sure if someone could achieve this, Sandrine was the one. The most of us looked quite impressed by it and Marilyn smiled. "Tell me when you have and we'll make a travel 'round the world!"

A bit more confident now Sandrine looked at Tokaku. "It's now dare, right? Um, could you sing for us once more?" I remembered Tokaku had a wonderful singing voice and she didn't seem to mind it. She first sang something in her native language, making the other three Japanese smile as they were remembered of their home country. And then she changed into an English song which was just as lovely. She finally bowed before us and everyone applauded her.

"So, Tani," she said cheerfully. "Imagine, you would have to be an animal, which one would you like to be?" The other girl didn't even have to think about it and immediately answered "A fish."

"You want to end on someone's plate?" Ari asked confused. "I thought you're an Ultimate Fisher." "True," she nodded. "But I really like fish. Would be great being able to breathe under water and living in the ocean, swimming every day." She then smiled somehow mischievously. "And now I have a dare for you, Ari." He returned the smile."Yeah? I'm ready to do anything."

"Wait just a second," Tani said before she got up and left the room. We others exchanged glances and waited. Ari remained relaxed until Tani returned and offered him a mucous, bloody mess. "Eat this," she commanded and Ari eyed it before he shrugged and quickly gulped it down. Though some gave him pitiful looks others just couldn't hold back their laughter seeing his grimaces. "Seriously, I'm gonna chunder. What the heck is this stuff?"

"Some raw fish guts I had left," Tani explained and Ari got his laid-back attitude back. "Well, they're not that bad." Then he grinned at Jason and asked "So, what do you think is her best quality?" With this he nodded towards Tokaku who was sitting next to Jason and the tall boy blushed a bit. "W-well...she can b-be really f-funny a-and h-has great t-taste i-in comicbooks." Tokaku presented him with a smile as she liked that answer.

Jason seemed relieved that he was done and then thought about a dare while the others quickly suggested things. I just watched them in amusement. Finally Jason decided to choose Panini and asked "You have the same h-height as Reece, r-right?"

Reece crossed his arms. "Come on, I'm taller than her!" "No one cares about one or two centimetres," Marilyn smirked.

"Anyway, what do we have to do?" Panini asked curiously and Jason said "H-how about, changing your clothes?", making everyone laugh. Panini grinned as she slipped into Reece's large grey hoodie while the boy didn't look as happy to wear her apron.

Panini decided to choose Akira for a question. "When we leave this place," she said and I noticed how she used 'when' instead of 'if', "what would you take with you?" "My handbook," he replied. "It is a simply amazing tool." True, he was into electronics.

Akira seemed to confer with his 'buddies' until he picked Reece and said "You do look nice with this new dress." "Why, thank you," Reece replied, probably wondering what would come next. "I dare you to get some nice make-up, too."

"Oh yes, let me do it!" Vivienne said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She left to get the needed utensils and in an attempt to cheer Reece up Ari said "Well, at least you'll have her touch your face now."

Vivienne really did her best, just with a few "A bit more here", "Now, keep still" and "This will fit perfectly to your eyes" she made Reece barely recognisable. "Et voilà, you're looking great!"

Reece fluttered his eyelashes, making even Tani smile. "Sexy," Ari commented with a grin and Tokaku asked "Oh, do you want some black lip stick, too? I can share mine." "No thank you," Reece quickly objected, wiping some powder from his cheek. "But now it's my turn. So, Vivienne, with whom of us would you most likely start a relationship?"

Everyone eyed her excitedly and she quickly hid behind her fan once more. "What a blunt question that is… I would say Tokaku then."

It wasn't really unexpected but still a bit disappointing. Reece and Ari looked as if they felt the same while Panini smiled somehow triumphantly. Vivienne quickly changed the topic. "So, Lewis, it's your turn."

I leaned forward, wondering what I would have to do. "Show us how you would propose to someone," she commanded. "All right," I nodded and she added "How about, to Panini?"

I quickly adjusted my tie before I went over to the girl and got down on one knee, offering her a hand. "I must confess, my life would be meaningless without you. Nothing could make me happier than spending the rest of my days with you. Will you marry me?"

"How can you say that with a straight face?" Reece wanted to know while Tokaku asked "Can it get even cornier?"

With a grin I added "I would have brought you roses but they couldn't possible match up to your beauty." Someone groaned but Panini giggled even more. "It's alright, I would have said yes!"

I noticed that Daichi was still taking notes all the time and I decided to ask him a question. "How come you came to the academy in England instead to the original Hope's Peak Academy in Japan?" He paused for a moment, his pen resting on his pad. Then he answered "Well, I had some problems with my sister."

"Oh, you have a sister?" Panini asked curiously. "How nice!" Daichi didn't blink but I could sense how he tensed a bit. "I wouldn't say so. She is quite...difficult to handle, even for me. So it was better to come to England instead." I would have liked to get to know more about it but Daichi already changed the topic and chose Artyom for a dare. "You can choose one person here to kiss," he said, his pen already in hand and the other boy grinned slightly.

He could have picked Vivienne or even Tokaku but no, he decided to walk over to Tani who straightfaced crossed her arms. Yet when Artyom quickly bent forward and placed a kiss on her lips she blushed slightly. Someone applauded.

"Done," Artyom proclaimed grinning. "So, Tokaku, I guess it's your turn again. Would you start a relationship in a situation like this?"

We played some more rounds, not knowing that this was the last evening we had spent peacefully together. Yet the next morning Tokaku's answer to the question was shown as she kissed a blushing Vivienne in front of everyone else. It looked like Panini's plan had been successful...


	34. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter V

**RubyLeo : I'm really happy you liked it that much! Real proposing would have been funny…**

 **FireDusk : Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, it was a lot of fun to write. Also it makes me happy that you like the chapters between the trials, I also hate to kill off all your great characters but well, that's the point of it. **

This day I decided to spend some time with someone I didn't know so well yet, meaning Tani. Though she had improved her behaviour and became a little bit friendlier she still was by herself most of the time and didn't talk much. From the first day on I had wanted to know why she was hiding her certainly fascinating personality (she was an Ultimate – she had to be fascinating, right?) from us. But so far I had waited that she would open up herself while I spent time with others.

By now I had enough of waiting and just wanted to talk to her. Tani was returning from the swimming pool when I found her, her hair was still wet from swimming. I couldn't really understand why she liked being in the water so much but maybe I would learn.

"Hey, Tani," I said with a smile. "Want to spend some time together?" She simply replied "No" and went away. What a clear rejection…

I quickly went after her. "I don't want to bother you but..." "Then stop followin' me," she interrupted me. "But whatever you have to do, maybe we could do it together," I suggested and as she finally looked at me I tried to smile even nicer. Obviously it had no effect, nothing in her expression changed. "I'd rather stay alone."

"I noticed that," I said. "But I wondered why you rather avoid us. I doubt it's because you're afraid of us." "I'll call ya when I wanna have a therapy session," she replied shortly, before starting to walk away. I could have just let her leave like I usually did but this time I was determined to get to know her better.

"We don't have to talk about you if you don't want to," I said. "Maybe there is something else you want to talk about? And if not, we can just hang around together." "I said no," she repeated and narrowed her eyes. "My, you're annoying. Do you wanna make me angry on purpose?"

"Of course not," I replied with a smile. "I am sorry I'm annoying, I just want to talk a bit." "Then why can't you go an' pester someone else?" she asked frowning.

"Because I want to talk with you and not with someone else," I explained, making her frown even more. "Why?"

Actually I wanted to be the one asking the questions but it was all right, somehow she was even more of a challenge than Hachiku had been. "Because I want to know you better. You're always careful not to let anyone know so much about you and I want to understand why. It would be nice if we could be friends, wouldn't it?"

"You just wanna be friends with everyone, don't ya?" she asked and I wasn't sure if she liked or despised that. "Doesn't everyone want to be friends with people they find interesting?" I carefully asked back.

"Well, I'm not interested in just everyone I meet," she replied. By now we had reached the hostel and without hesitating she entered it. "I like my privacy. If I really like someone it's fine but I won't try to befriend everyone so they think they can just pester me anytime they want." I was fascinated I got her to talk so much.

"I see," I said. "So you don't really like me?" She gave me an _Are you serious?_ look. "Sorry for breakin' your heart but no." "Then we can improve that," I suggested, making her eyebrow twitch slightly. "Listen, there are many others who'd love bein' pestered by ya but not me, 'kay? I don't have a real problem with ya so don't ruin it now."

"All right," I said, entering the corridor with the dorm rooms alongside her. "So, what are you going to do now? Without me?" "None of your business," she snapped.

"You're not going to swim again," I wondered out loud. "But I guess you want to do something else concerning water and fish. Am I right?" She glared at me which wasn't that impressing since she was much smaller than me. "Maybe I'm thinkin' about guttin'," she said and just then I noticed a large scar on one palm of her hands. I already wanted to ask her about that as another door opened and Vivienne looked at us.

"Lewis, I need to tell you something," she proclaimed, making it sound like an order and Tani used the opportunity to escape. "What is it?" I asked, entering her room and she said "We should go to the bathroom." Now, that was unexpected…

"For what?" I asked and she leant a bit forward. "There are no cameras," she whispered, her glossy lips almost touching my ear. Somehow it was difficult to think straight when she was so close. Without another question I followed her into the bathroom where she carefully closed the door and then turned around to me with a somehow excited smile. "I found something Monokuma shouldn't know about!" she explained.

I needed a moment to understand, then I returned her smile and asked "Really? What is it?"

"You know how our waste always vanishes at some time at night, right?" she asked and I nodded. "So I started to keep an eye on that and last night I noticed a giant car outside. It looked like a waste collection car so I followed it and..." "Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted her. "You were following a mysterious car outside? In the middle of the night? All alone?"

"I know it was pretty brave," she said, fanning herself and laughing proudly. Then she dropped the act and said "I meant, I watched it with binoculars. Anyway, I saw it passing the fence." "You mean...?" She nodded eagerly. "Yes! Suddenly there was a gap in the fence and as it opened the car could pass through. If we could get onto this car, maybe we could leave, too!"

Those were amazing news! It would have been great to tell everyone about it but I understood that our plan would be ruined if Monokuma heard that we knew about it. That made me wonder… "Why did you tell me?" I asked. "And not Tokaku for example?"

She blushed slightly. "I don't want her to do anything stupid… I don't know how dangerous it is and I didn't want her to be risky." "You don't think I'd do anything stupid?" I asked and she shrugged. "I thought you'd be more careful." _Or maybe she just doesn't care as much when I get into danger…_

"So what do you think we should do about it?" she asked and I thought about it for a moment. "I guess we should better watch the situation first. We could go there this night, Monokuma could think we just wanted to do a little walk in the moon light. If I see this by myself I can hopefully think of some plan to escape from here."

And so we had a plan. I knew this could get dangerous but it was definitely worth a try if maybe we could find a way out like this...

 **Freetime events with Tani are difficult, but they can only improve, right?**

 **Just a little chapter, I know. But I will be quite busy the next month, so I probably won't update as often as usually. And I wanted to give you something you can wonder about until the next chapter!~**


	35. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter VI

The rest of the day I had tried my best to act as usual but I couldn't focus on anything else but the plan we made. I wondered if we would actually manage to get out of here and what would wait for us on the other side of the fence. Would we be able to get back to usual everyday life? What if we couldn't just go to Hope's Peak Academy as planned? I didn't want to return to my old life, I just wanted to stay with the others.

But it probably would be terribly boring to never leave this place again. On the other hand I felt slightly uncomfortable about Monokuma being so careless. This bear certainly had known someone would see the car and get the idea to leave this way – why would he make such a mistake and let us escape like this?

Anyway, I wouldn't know more until I've seen everything with my own eyes.

This evening I waited some time after night time had begun and everything had calmed down before I slipped out of my room and went over to Vivienne's. Apparently she had already been waiting for me, I didn't even have to knock she already tore the door open and stared at me. "Are you ready?" I asked friendly and she just nodded although she looked pretty nervous. It was no surprise, we could get into danger when we faced Monokuma but we could also finally find an escape way from here.

I offered her my arm and as she took it we made our way down the stairs without meeting anyone else. Outside it was colder than I had expected but not as bad as days before. With the dark sky above us and the millions of stars the world looked just beautiful and again I wasn't sure if this despite all the sick cruelty we had been forced to see wasn't the place I had always dreamt of. For a moment I toyed with the thought of putting my arm around Vivienne. Then she whispered "I am so happy Tokaku loves me back. She is a wonderful girl… If I wish for anyone to get out of here it would be her."

"And you don't care about the rest of us?" I asked jokingly and she looked away. "Of course I want everyone to get out but she is special. I… I never felt like this before so don't you dare making fun of me, got it?"

"I would never," I simply replied and we continued our way to the fences. As we came nearer the swimming pool I spotted two dark figures there and curiously approached them. Both Tani and Sandrine were sitting silently on the edge, looking down into the empty pool.

"What are you doing here?" I asked and Sandrine flinched with a nervous squeak. Tani just glared at me. "What are _you_ doing here?" Monokuma could have his ears everywhere, it was probably safer not to tell the truth. "Just wandering around in the moonlight," I said with a smile. "We both couldn't sleep so we decided to walk around a bit."

I had the feeling Tani didn't believe me but she didn't lose a word about it and explained "We both wanted to swim as early as possible so we decided to wait for the water to come back." Sandrine nodded nervously and just now I noticed she was holding a swimsuit in her hands. How could someone actually want to go swimming in the night?!

I already wanted to bid farewell to them as Vivienne made a sound and pointed in some direction. Her story had been true, there was a giant car driving through the silent night and it looked a lot like a waste collection. It was too dark to see if someone was actually driving it but something else was more important – would it actually pass the fence?

The two other girls had seen it as well and without any other word all four of us followed the car which was thankfully not very fast. In fact it was actually very slow without any particular reason unless… Could this be a trap?!

I already wanted to say something but Tani was faster, she ran off and jumped just in the right moment, getting a hold of the car and hanging on to it as it continued to drive. We others stopped and watched with bated breath as they came near the fence. Tani turned her head to look back to us and we could see her determined expression as she nodded towards us.

And then the fence actually opened, revealing a gap for the car. We started running again but the fence closed to quickly for us again. But Tani was on the other side, she actually got past the fence! There was a moment of triumph until the car stopped, the driver's door opened and a giant Monokuma wearing the clothes of a dustman got out of it. Humming some melody he approached Tani who immediately jumped off the car and tried to run away.

The Monokuma grabbed a piece of waste and threw it at her, hitting Tani in the back and making her fall to the ground. As she tried to get to her feet again the bear came nearer, pulling a bin bag over her and carrying her body back to the car where he threw her onto the pile of waste. We had no chance of getting to her and try to help as the fence was an impassable barrier between us and so we could only watch in shock as a weight came crushing down, merciless smashing the bags several times. I could feel Vivienne's fingers digging into my arm as she watched, too shocked to even get her fan out. Sandrine on my other side has fainted once again.

Finally it was over and the car drove back to our side of the fence to dump all the waste right in front of us before vanishing behind the bars again. Immediately we tried to free Tani from the bag, being as careful as possible.

She looked horrible. Blood covered her face and body while her limbs were horribly disarranged as probably most of her bones had been broken. But somehow she was still alive, one of her eyes fluttered open and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something. Then her eye closed again.

But we were three people here and there was no Monokuma announcement so she couldn't be dead! I knew we had to get her back to the hostel but I was afraid we would hurt her even more if we tried to carry her.

With a glance to Sandrine who was still out cold and Vivienne with her high heels I jumped up and said "You stay here, I go and get help!"

The blonde girl looked at me in pure shock as if she wanted to say "Don't leave me alone with them' but I had no time for this. As fast as I could I tried to run back to the hostel and quickly noticed that it was impossible for me to keep this pace for the entire way. Damn it, I should have worked out more with Hachiku!

Finally I arrived at the hostel, stumbling upstairs and knocking wildly against one of the dorm room doors. Daichi opened and regarded me expressionless. "What happened?" he simply asked and as I tried to catch my breath I replied "Tani...terribly wounded...need help...quick!"

He didn't ask anything else, just started to quickly alarm the others. As soon as Reece was awake he made a provisional stretcher out of sheets and broom sticks and Jason and Artyom went away to get Tani. I wanted to follow them but Daichi hold me back. "Would you mind explaining me what exactly happened?"

And so I told him everything, how Vivienne told me about the waste collection, how we went after it and met Tani and Sandrine and how Tani finally tried if she could get past the fence. Daichi listened to me with a straight face, just taking some notes.

Then the boys returned, carrying Tani on their stretcher with them. The others had gathered and watched in shock. "Will she be okay?" Panini asked worriedly but no one knew an answer to that. All we could do is bringing Tani to bed and try to take care of the fractured bones though everyone looked too afraid to damage her even more.

While some tried to help Tani Daichi approached me once again and asked me to come with him to the living room. "Lie down for a bit," he offered and as soon as my head touched the soft cushion of the sofa I felt how tired I actually was, for not having a minute of sleep this night.

"Are you all right?" Daichi asked and I struggled to keep my eyes open. I hated it when he turned the tables, I wanted to be the one asking the questions. "I'm just worried about Tani," I answered. "And I am a bit concerned about Vivienne. It was her idea to go after the car and she is not the most stable person so maybe she feels guilty about it."

"You care a lot about her?" Daichi asked and I blinked. "I care a lot about everyone."

"Oh really?" Daichi's expression didn't change in the slightest. "Do you actually like everyone here for who they are? Or is it that you just care about people in general?"

Why was he asking me this now of all times? "I like everyone here," I replied and he wrote it down. "On an equal base? I noticed for example that you're often spending time with Panini while you seem to try avoiding Ari."

"He always carries these lighters around with him," I murmured and Daichi softly said "I already noticed you're afraid of fire." As I didn't reply he added carefully "Do you have a specific reason for that?"

"Let me ask you this," I said. "Apparently you have noticed a lot about me, are you watching just me or are you doing this with everyone?"

"I am trying to gather all information that could be helpful for us in this situation," he simply replied.

Rubbing my tired eyes I offered "Maybe we should try gathering information together? Surely it would be more effective this way." And with my typical smile I added "Sometimes it is actually helpful to get close to people as they will tell you everything you need to know without you having to ask questions."

Daichi thought about it for a moment before he asked "Is it just you getting close to them or are they close to you as well?"

"Of course they mean a lot to me, too," I answered. "I guess that's the point in getting close, isn't it?" He wrote that down. "Though this might be an advantage it also has to be a torture to see them dying then."

"It is very sad, yes," I replied, too tired to think of a better answer. "You're having problems getting close to people?" "Unlike you I think it is easier to study them with a more neutral perspective," he explained. "But tell me, with this attitude you always must have been very popular in school."

„Not really," I replied, already half asleep and could hear Daichi say "That's surprising. Would you say it was other people having problems with you or was it you having problems with the others?"

Now this was too much. "Could we stop this?" I asked and he replied "It is totally all right if you're feeling uncomfortable to talk about it." "No, I am just very tired," I said and he nodded contently. "Then we will continue this later."

He was probably even worse than Tani and Hachiku. It was not only difficult to get information about him, but also was he the one getting information all the time. I was still wondering how to deal with him when I fell asleep.

I had no idea how much time had passed when I woke up again. The room was bright from sunlight so it must have been around late afternoon. I was all alone and just when I wanted to get up and go looking for Tani, Monokuma appeared in front of me.

"How is Tani?" I asked him and he chuckled. "She's bearly conscious and when it probably hurts beary much. Didn't you mothers tell you that's what's gonna happen when you play with the rubbish?" I couldn't help but laugh about the thought that parents would be afraid of giant toy bears hurting their children with bin bags.

"Is this something we all can laugh about?" I could hear Artyom say as he entered the room and I got serious again. "How is Tani?" I asked again, making him shrug in response. "Well, she's still alive."

Apparently Monokuma didn't like to be ignored and he started to jump up and down to get out attention. The next moment we could hear an announcement "Everyone gather in the living room! Your bearloved headmaster has some news for you!"

Slowly everyone except Tani gathered. I could see Panini and Tokaku coming in together, apparently they managed to get back to their friendship. As Vivienne went over to them the girls smiled and hugged each other.

Monokuma sighed and wiped an invisible tear from his black eye. "It is so nice to see that you have become such good friends. That makes it even more sad that poor little Tani had an accident." "That wasn't an accident!" Marilyn said angrily. "It was your fault!"

"No, it was her fault for not knowing how to behave. Terrible things can happen when you decide to leave your room at night. But anyway! I have news that will cheer you up! You know, you have to kill someone to escape and all your other friends are going to die then, isn't that just horribly sad? No one wants that, right?!"

"What's going on now?" Reece asked as confused as everyone here. Monokuma shows him a thumbs-up. "So I thought of this! If you kill someone and successfully get through the Trial you can choose one classmate to get out of here as well! Hooray!" And with an extremely ugly laugh he left us again.

 **I really struggled with words this chapter, sorry for that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and reviews would be very much appreciated.**


	36. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter VII

**FireDusk** **: Thanks a lot for the review and we will see about the motive. ;** **)**

 **KittyPainter** **: I'm glad you liked that chapter and also the motive, so thank you for reviewing!**

 **RubyLeo** **:** **I think I remember four of your top five. Actually, I think you're pretty cute with your ideas so don't worry, it's not bothering me. I always like hearing suggestions.**

Of course no one said something about it but I could almost hear how some thought about it. It was a clever move of Monokuma, using our bonds against us like this. Almost everyone here could be affected by it.

I remembered Marilyn's determination to save Sandrine, remembered how Artyom had kissed Tani, remembered how Panini, Tokaku and Vivienne hugged each other. And though the others didn't seem to have such a motive, I could imagine that it wouldn't be difficult to manipulate Jason somehow and Ari was simply unpredictable for me.

While everyone tried to understand the situation Akira tugged at my sleeve, making me look down to him. Something in his expression told me that he had something important on his mind and so we went a bit away from the others.

"I finally hacked into my handbook's system!" he then told me excitedly. "I can do records again, so if a murder were to happen it should be very easy to solve." On one hand those were good news, on the other hand did this mean he was expecting another murder to happen and that was a terrible imagination. We had lost four friends already, I didn't want to lose anyone else!

"You know it is dangerous what you're doing," I said and Akira nodded. "I do. Nevertheless, it's the best I can do for all of us. I am used to do such work after all."

"Have you ever regretted it?" I asked curiously and his expression darkened a little bit. "Yes. But I won't give up because of that." His tone of voice sounded more mature than it should, he really wasn't the little boy he looked like. I could only hope that we wouldn't need his recordings after all...

The next morning everyone was quite gloomy as we sat together for breakfast. Usually at least some of us were talking happily about something but now no one knew what to say. Not only did we get a new motive we had to be afraid of, we also somehow lost Tani. She was still unconscious and we could only hope that her condition was stable enough.

Besides Tani three others were missing as well, making us feel even more uncomfortable. Sandrine wasn't here but Marilyn explained that the girl had wanted to go swimming as soon as the water was back, something I still couldn't understand. Ari wasn't there either and although he always came late he was never this late. And Akira never missed a breakfast which made me worry, especially after what he had told me yesterday.

Checking my handbook I could see that he was inside the storage room, or at least his handbook was there. I couldn't really imagine he would just drop it somewhere so I decided that it was probably the best to go and see what he was doing there at this time.

As I stood up Panini quickly got to her feet, too. "I'm coming with you, okay?" she asked although she didn't even know where I wanted to go. I nodded and the others decided to finish their breakfast as well, not wanting to wait for the others any longer.

Even when we left the room Panini didn't ask where I was going, just followed me with a somehow nervous smile. "I am so glad that my plan worked," she told me. "I'm so happy for them!" I got that she talked about Tokaku and Vivienne. This must have been really important for her, only showing how much she cared for her friends. Panini looked like she wanted to say something else but hesitated. Just then I saw Ari walking down the corridor and we stopped to greet him.

Something was wrong though, he didn't walk a straight line but staggered almost as if he was drunk. "Are you okay?" Panini asked as we came closer and Ari grimaced slightly, one hand pressed against his head. "Just a little headache."

"You should ask someone for a tea," Panini suggested. "That always helps!" "I think I'm gonna do that," Ari replied and we watched him stagger away before we made our way up the stairs. "I wonder what's with him," Panini said, sounding a bit worried. "It's not this weird virus thing you had, is it?"

"I doubt it. Maybe it's just some sort of migraine." We arrived at the store room and Panini took a deep breath before she said "I...I have to tell you something." "What is it?" I looked at her while I opened the door and so I saw her eyes widen, just before she screamed.

I spun around, only to see Akira lying on the ground, looking like a thrown away little doll. For a moment I couldn't move, just stared at the little pool of red right next to his head, the blood covering his pale face. Panini fell down on her knees next to the boy, screaming out his name and grabbing him by the small shoulders, as if she wanted to shake him but then didn't dare to. I pulled myself together and knelt down next to them, praying for some sign of life.

And then Akira groaned slightly, giving us new hope. Panini exhaled and asked with a slightly shaky voice "Akira? Akira? Can you hear me?"

The boy didn't react to it but his eyelids fluttered slightly and I could see him breathing, showing that he was still alive. By now we heard footsteps and some of the others came rushing into the room. "We heard Panini screaming," Reece said and stopped as he saw Akira on the ground.

"He's still alive!" I said quickly. "Go, get something to treat the wound!"

Reece and Jason who had come with him turned around again and rushed back while Panini still tried to talk to Akira.

Just now I noticed the bloodstained shovel lying nearby which was obviously used to knock him out. We could only hope that Akira would wake up again and maybe tell us who attacked him, so I could have a little chat with that person.

The other boys quickly came back, carrying a bucket of water as well as some clean cloths. Carefully I tried to clean Akira's face, revealing a pretty bad looking wound we immediately tried to bind up. Some of the others showed up, everyone apparently shocked about the attack.

Only Marilyn approached me and asked nervously if we could talk. I saw that the others were taking care of Akira and so I went with her. "Can you come with me to the pool?" she asked. "Sandrine is still there and I'm worried that whoever attacked Akira could have attacked her, too."

As I looked into her big eyes I could read nothing but fear in them and so I nodded, trying to comfort her. "I am sure she is fine."

We didn't speak a word as we made our way to the swimming pool and I somehow felt reminded of the first time we went there, also being looking for Sandrine. Yet today was a beautiful warm day with barely a cloud in the sky.

As we came near the pool we could neither see a sign of the girl nor any trace of blood. "That's weird," Marilyn murmured with a frown. "Her handbook is still here."

Slowly we walked around, carefully looking everywhere and I froze as I spotted something beneath the surface of the water. A body was lifelessly drifting in the clear blue and for a moment I wanted to believe that Sandrine was just diving. But why was she still wearing her sweater and jeans then?

"Marilyn," I said softly but she had already seen it, too. The girl didn't hesitate for a second and jumped into the water, quickly diving down to the other girl and pulling her out of the water.

"Please, Sandrine, breathe!" Desperately she wiped the wet black strands out of the girl's face, just to reveal the empty brown eyes of a corpse.

 **And there we go again, everyone!**

 **First I wanted this to be a double-murder but I decided that I like it better this way. I hope you're not mad at me for breaking the tradition.**


	37. Let's enjoy nature: Chapter VIII

**RubyLeo : I promise this will be the only case where it is that obvious who died. :) **

Marilyn was shaking violently and I had no idea what I should say to her. I couldn't stop staring at Sandrine's lifeless little body, wondering who would decide to kill an innocent little girl like her. After some time I noticed that no one else was coming, that there still hadn't been an announcement. I needed to inform the others about this. But I also didn't want to leave Marilyn alone at the scene of the crime.

And so I started to wander around the pool, observing every little piece of it. There was nothing which looked out of place. The murderer didn't leave anything behind, there were no suspicious stains or anything that would hint at a fight, nothing else was drifting in the clear water and as far as I could see nothing was laying on the ground of it.

"What are you doing?" Marilyn suddenly asked, her voice sounding alarmingly calm. Finally she had let go of Sandrine and slowly got to her feet again, her face showing a dark yet determined expression.

"I was looking for clues," I explained and she waved it away. "Go, get the others." Her voice got a lot harsher, it wasn't just an order it was a command you better obey or you'll regret it. "And don't tell anyone what happened," she added. "I want to see their faces when they come."

"It will be obvious that something has happened to Sandrine when I tell them to come here," I said. "Maybe you should better tell them yourself to see their reactions?"

Her green eyes nearly pierced me. "I won't leave you alone with her. Now, stop wasting time and go!"

And so I made my way back to the hostel, wondering what I should tell them. Daichi was the first to cross my way and I knew I would never be able to trick him so I didn't even try to hide my shock. "What happened?" he asked calmly as he saw me and I took a deep breath. "At the swimming pool… Marilyn, she… so much blood..." Daichi didn't even blink, staying as unreadable as always. "I will take a look," he just said. "You better get inside."

I nodded weakly and returned to the hostel, determined to stick to this method. Whoever attacked Sandrine would know that there was no blood, maybe their reaction would give me a hint.

Vivienne and Tokaku, both girls just looked at me in shock, while Artyom cursed under his breath. Jason hid his face and Ari just closed his eyes as if he was tired of it. All of them wanted to go to the swimming pool as soon as possible.

Then I entered Akira's room. The others had brought the boy to his room and he was resting on his bed now, his head covered in bandages. Reece and Panini were with him and as I entered the girl smiled at me. "We think he'll be alright again," she said happily. "Reece said lacerations often look far worse than they actually are, right?" The boy nodded. "They can bleed like crazy."

I tried to smile. "That's good news." For some reason I felt guilty to tell them, I didn't want to see Panini's smile vanish. But sooner or later they would know anyway. "Did something else happen?" Reece asked now with a worried frown and I hesitated. This time Monokuma helped me out as suddenly the screen on the wall turned on. "Congratulations! A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, the Class Trial will begin!"

Immediately Panini checked on Akira and then said "No! It can't be, he must have made a mistake, Akira is still alive!" Reece just stared at me, slowly clenching his fists.

"Sandrine is dead," I said, forcing myself to watch their reactions. Panini's eyes filled with tears and she sat down on the bed, staring down at her trembling fingers. Reece's eyes glowed angrily as he tore his hair. "Damn it, why?! What kind of bastard would kill her of all people?!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. The first victim had been Alice who had always been nice to everyone, the second one was Aviana, another little girl who didn't seem to be a threat to anyone. If you also counted Akira who was just a child it really looked like those who were nice and not good at fighting back would have to die. Did that mean Panini would become the next victim? No, no, there wouldn't be a next victim, I had to believe into this. And for now I had to focus on this case.

I checked my handbook and found the new entry in the Monokuma file. _The victim is_ _Sandrine Gatlin_ _. The time of death was around_ _7_ _a_ _m._ _The victim died drowning, yet has some bruises as well as a broken leg._

"Did she... die in pain?" Panini asked with a very quiet voice, looking at me with a little bit of hope in her eyes and I just told her what she desperately wanted to hear "No, I'm sure she didn't feel anything. Maybe she was even happy to be in the water, you know how much she liked swimming."

"If I find this bastard!" Reece was still swearing but now he turned around to face us. "We should probably investigate, shouldn't we?"

With a nod I looked at Panini. "You should better stay here with Akira." "No!" she protested, jumping to her feet again and clutching my arm. "Don't leave me behind!"

"All right. Reece could you stay here, then?"

The boy didn't look happy at all about this but agreed.

As Panini and I entered Sandrine's room, Marilyn was already there. "Did anyone show an interesting reaction?" I asked her but she didn't respond to that, completely lost in her anger and despair. Although we weren't really sure what we expected to find here, we started to search the room. A note or something like that would be perfect but we couldn't find anything like this.

Instead Panini picked up a small book with a black and white cover. "What is this?" "Her diary!" I remembered. "That's great! Maybe she has written something useful into it."

"No, you can't just read a girl's diary," Panini protested. "Why not?" I asked. "The girl is dead so she won't mind it anymore."

The next moment Marilyn smacked me so hard that I stumbled backwards and tasted blood in my mouth. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Panini asked in shock and rushed by my side but I ignored her worried look as I focussed on Marilyn. She glared at me with flashing eyes, unpredictable in her anger. " _The girl_ as you call her was incredibly sensitive about her privacy! I won't let you just read all her secrets!"

"You know," I said, "this makes you look pretty suspicious now."

Marilyn's eyes were emitting sparks by now and she looked ready to kill me. "How dare you accusing me?!"

"Hey, stop it!" Panini quickly stepped between us. "You mustn't fight! We are friends, aren't we?" Marilyn hissed angrily before she turned around, probably so we couldn't see how hurt she was. "Do whatever you want. But I'm warning you, if you don't show respect..." And with that she went away.

I didn't hesitate any longer and opened the book, looking for the last entry. "Do you really think Marilyn is suspicious?" I heard Panini ask. "No, she's just overreacting because her best friend here died," I explained while I was studying Sandrine's neat hand writing. Panini sobbed softly and I realised that I should have phrased that in a nicer way.

Just then I found the last entry and tried to read it. _Ce matin je voulais_

I stopped in the middle of the sentence, angry about myself that I had thought Sandrine would write in English. Suddenly I remembered her kind offer to teach me other languages and I wished we would have actually done that.

"Panini, can you bring Vivienne here?" I asked and the girl looked at me with a confused frown. "This is in French," I explained. "We need someone to translate it for us."

After Panini left I looked around some more but I couldn't find anything interesting. In fact it was more interesting what I didn't find. I remembered how Sandrine had this little camera she always carried around with her. But when we found her she didn't have it and it also was nowhere at the pool. I had expected to find it here but no matter where I looked I couldn't find it. Somehow I felt that this was important.

Then I wondered if whoever killed Sandrine also attacked Akira and for what reason. If the murderer was determined to kill two people he still needed to attack one and by now they should know that Akira was alive and safe. It was irrational but suddenly I regretted that I sent Panini away. She was out there alone and there was a murderer lurking, what had I been thinking?!

I tore the door open and nearly bumped into Daichi. "You found something?" was all he asked with a reassuringly calm voice. "Maybe," I answered and the next moment Panini came back, followed by Vivienne who hid her face once more behind her fan. "What do you want?" she asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

I offered her the small book. "Sandrine's diary. Could you translate the last entry for us?" Vivienne arched her eyebrows but nodded and there was curiosity in her eyes as she flipped through the pages. We watched her as she read the first lines and then started to translate.

 _This morning I wanted to go swimming as soon as possible, like I did back in Spain where the noons were too hot to be outside. But something horrible happened instead, Monokuma hurt Tani! It was so terrible, I thought she would die! I really don't want to see another corpse in my life!_

 _I'm so scared here, I feel like any time someone could die and I am so afraid that it could be Marilyn. I can't lose anyone else!_

 _Marilyn tried to cheer me up by going shopping. And she taught me some funny Russian expressions I hadn't known yet. Why is she always so kind to someone like me?_

 _I remember how Alice told me, when I'm scared here I should think that this is just vacation. He then said we should do photos together so we can remember everything nice that happened. I so wish he would be here!_

 _But I will try to_

Vivienne stopped and at first I thought it was because of the content. Then she said with a frown "There is a page missing." She showed us the book and it really looked like someone ripped the page out. Sandrine herself? The murderer? Or someone else?

"Vivienne," Daichi suddenly said. "What have you been doing this night?" The girl stared at him wide-eyed, completely taken by surprise about this sudden change of topic. "N-nothing," she said. "I mean, I was sleeping in my room. Why?"

"I just thought we should better talk about that," Daichi explained calmly. "To go and see if anyone has an alibi for this early morning and the night before."

"Well, I didn't leave my room!" Vivienne insisted and Panini quickly said "Me neither." Daichi looked at me and I said that I had been in my room as well until Monokuma's morning announcement had greeted us.

We then decided that Daichi would also ask the others while I wanted to check the store room. Vivienne escaped from the scene as soon as she could while Panini followed me quickly.

There was still blood on the floor, the bloody shovel lying next to it. I noticed that it was a rather small one, so everyone should have been able to wield it. Beside this I couldn't find anything here except for the usual rubbish this room was filled with. Panini had tears in her eyes again and I thought that it would be better to get her away from the blood.

As we left Reece crossed our way and I asked "Is something with Akira?" "Yes," he grinned. "He woke up."

Immediately we rushed to his room where Akira was already mumbling something to himself, or more precisely to the voices. I didn't have to ask, he knew about Sandrine.

"How are you?" I asked gently and he slowly looked at me. "My head hurts. But besides this I am fine, thank you." "I'm so glad!" Panini sobbed, hugging the surprised little boy.

I decided to ask. "Now that we have the case, can you see on your handbook where people were this morning?" Akira nodded carefully. "Yes, I think so." At least one good thing.

Ding-dang-dong! And with that Monokuma showed his face once again. "Attention please! Time's up! Everyone gather at the basement door! Everyone! Another breathtaking Class Trial is about to begin! Upupupu..."

Reece lifted Akira up who probably was still a bit unsteady on his feet and carried him to the basement door. Before we could follow them Panini quickly hugged me. "We will be fine, right?" she asked with a shaky voice and I gave my best to smile at her. "Of course we will."

 **And so we're done with the Investigation. If you have any theories or just thoughts about this, feel free to tell me.**


	38. Class Trial III

**FireDusk** **: I like all of your theories! Thanks for sharing!**

 **RubyLeo** **: I'm counting this as a success. Thank you for telling me your suspects and don't worry someone who would hit Panini would be a completely heartless person. ;)**

 **TechniqueFantasy** **: I am so glad to hear from you again, thanks a lot for the review! And thanks for your theories, that's really interesting. Hope you have recovered well!**

Five of us had died already and again we were standing in this room, everyone separated from the others and alone on their pedestal. Tani wasn't even there but Monokuma didn't say anything about it so I assumed that it was all right for her this time. Still I would have felt better to see her here with us.

Marilyn didn't say a word to start this but I could sense she was still fuming, one wrong placed word and she would explode. Almost as angry as her Reece begun our debate, asking "Who did this?! They better confess immediately!" Of course no one confessed. "Who would have had a motive then?" Reece continued, eager to quickly end this trial.

Vivienne pointed with her fan at Artyom. "Obviously him, right? To get Tani out and get her to a hospital." Although she was quick with her accusation it was actually not unreasonable to think so.

Artyom stayed calm. "Why would that be obvious? I wouldn't kill, especially not a harmless little thing like Sandrine. But what about you?" "W-what do you mean?" Vivienne asked and Marilyn rolled her eyes. "You and Tokaku, you're the obvious ones here, right? I mean you're so in love with each other, aren't you?"

Before they could start to protest Daichi cleared his throat and said "Maybe we should first talk about the crime itself? About how Sandrine was killed?"

"But that's really obvious now, right?" Reece asked. "She probably got into a fight with her murderer and then they threw her into the pool, so she would drown. And then they rushed back to the hostel and pretended they just got up."

"She was a great swimmer, how could she drown in the first place?" Vivienne wanted to know and Marilyn growled "Someone broke her leg first. That wouldn't have been very difficult since there is no water in the pool at night – they just had to push her into the pool. Maybe they even expected it would break her neck."

"I hope so," I said. "Because it would have been quite cruel to leave her there without a chance to get out. Sandrine probably had to wait there in pain and watch the water stream in."

Everyone just looked down in sadness, except for Marilyn and Daichi. "Exactly," the girl said with clenched teeth. "If I find that bastard, I make him pay!" "Anyway that would mean the murderer could have attacked her in the middle of the night already and then went back to the hostel," Daichi thought out loud.

"But...maybe it was an accident?" Panini asked. "Maybe Sandrine accidentally fell into the pool when she went there to wait for the water to come back? It's very dark there at night, isn't it?"

I doubted that it was just an accident, why had Akira been attacked then? But I didn't want to instantly crush Panini's hope and so I said "Well, we can easy find out who was at the pool at night, right, Akira?"

The boy blinked in confusion, then he nodded and pulled out his handbook. "I successfully hacked into the system once more," he explained and showed us the display of his handbook. We could see the map of the area within the fences as well as thirteen little names, most of them resting in their rooms.

I stood too far away from Akira to be able to read the names but the boy read them out for us while Jason and Marilyn, the two who were closest to him, checked if he told us the right ones.

We could see how someone left their room and waited at the door until Sandrine left her room as well. The two of them met apparently and went all the way to the swimming pool, but only one of them returned to the hostel. There the person waited until another one went along the corridor and rushed to their room again. But the name of the person who did it was a surprise to us. It was Ari.

The boy had been silent through the entire trial so far, he never talked much during the debates but at least he had always looked like he would listen and been playing around with his lighters. This time he just stood there with an empty look in his eyes and barely reacted as someone said his name.

"So, you did it?!" Marilyn asked and for the first time Ari raised his head, realising the situation he was in. "No! Of course not!"

"Then how come your handbook was moving from your room to the swimming pool and back?" Marilyn asked, with a voice as cold as winter. "Someone must have stolen it!"Ari claimed. "Look, I'm usually always carryin' it around with me but now it's gone so someone..." He froze as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the handbook.

"This is looking bad now," Vivienne commented with arched eyebrows and Ari looked at her. "I dunno how my handbook went to the pool but I wasn't there! And if someone has stolen it, it must have been you, Vivi!"

The girl gave a laugh, quickly hiding it behind her fan. "First, you just proved that you still have your handbook so no one stole it. And second, why me of all people?!"

Ari frowned slightly. "Why don't ya tell the others about yesterday night?"

"What does he mean?" Reece asked. "What happened last night?"

"I have no idea," Vivienne said disparagingly. "Did you have a weird dream you would like to tell us about?"

"It wasn't a dream," Ari replied. "I know very well how you came to my room last night. I thought you wouldn't like everyone here to know about it but it looks like I don't have a choice."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, freak," Vivienne said, sounding a bit nervous now, and Ari continued "You came to my room yesterday, tellin' me how Tokaku wasn't enough for you and how you missed something."

Vivienne started coughing and her cheeks turned nearly as pink as her eyes. "Excuse me? I would certainly never do such a thing!" Tokaku crossed her arms. "Don't worry, Vivi, I don't believe this anyway. As if you would say, I'm not enough, tch." Then she glared at Ari. "So, you dare telling me you flirted with my girl?"

Ari shrugged. "She came to me, not the other way around. How stupid would I have been to send her away?"

I grinned at him. "I know exactly what you mean. Did she go to the bathroom with you as well?"

"What?!" Tokaku and Panini screamed in unison while Vivienne blushed even more. "Stop making me sound like a slut!" she yelled. "Tokaku, really, nothing ever happened!"

The black-haired girl nodded. "I know that. Don't worry, Vivi, I believe you."

"Maybe it was a really realistic dream?" Daichi suggested. "And because you wished for it to be true you subconsciously decided to believe that it really happened?"

Ari's eye twitched slightly. "Why is everyone on her side? It's not my fault that she came to me!"

"Yes, but it's pretty unbelievable since the recording doesn't show us Vivienne coming to your room," Marilyn stated, looking at the recording once more.

"But I'm telling you that's what happened!" Ari said, looking around in desperation. I was sure he didn't fake those emotions but he would feel like that both if he was lying or telling the truth. "And then she must have stolen my handbook," he added, making Tokaku mockingly ask "Oh and later she came again to give it back to you? Or what?"

Ari hesitated for a moment then he said "No, she didn't come back. But later it knocked on my door again and then someone knocked me out."

"Really?" Vivienne asked with her arms crossed. "And who was it?"

Ari scratched the back of his head. "Looked like a giant squirrel."

There was a moment of silence and then Artyom laughed. "This is not the right moment for making jokes," he said. "But that was a good one!" "It wasn't supposed to be funny," Ari murmured.

"Is that some weird Australian saying?" Reece asked. "I mean, you can't be serious about that, right?"

"I am!" Ari protested. "I opened the door to see something like a stuffed squirrel, as tall as a human! And the next thing I know is how I woke up on the floor."

"Wow, this is the most stupid story I ever heard," Vivienne commented. "And next you will tell us I'm a were-squirrel? Do you really think we would believe this?!"

"But it is actually too silly to be a lie," Daichi said. "He didn't have to tell us about the squirrel – he could have just said he didn't see who attacked him. By telling us this he only made himself more unbelievable. I guess someone attacked him and the head injury made him hallucinate things. Maybe you're having a concussion, Ari?"

"Given that someone attacked him at all," Vivienne said. "I have proof for that!" Ari claimed, wiping some blonde strands of his face and showing us a plaster beneath his hair line.

"Oh, wow!" Vivienne rolled her eyes. "That doesn't prove anything! I could place a plaster on my head as well!"

"But I really think he got hurt," I said, remembering how Ari acted this morning. "He looked sick the entire morning and I doubt he is faking this." Vivienne shrugged. "He could have hurt himself to make it look like he was attacked. He is telling stupid lies for the whole time now!"

"But why would I do this?!" Ari wanted to know. "I don't even have a motive for that!"

"Maybe you wanted to get away with Vivienne?" Reece suggested and Ari looked a bit hurt that even Reece suspected him. "Hell, no! You can't really believe that I would kill just for a pretty girl! Someone is obviously tryin' to frame me for this!"

"Could Tokaku have hypnotised him?" Artyom wondered and the girl just rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that I never hypnotise boys?!"

"How about Vivienne then?" Artyom asked calmly. "To make her seduce Ari?"

Tokaku just stared at him. "The fuck?! I love her! I wouldn't do this to her!"

"Well then, one of you three must have done it, right?" Artyom said undeterred. "Either Vivienne lies and she went to Ari to get his handbook. Or Ari lies and he actually did it and now tries to confuse us. Or Tokaku lies and she made Vivienne do it to get Ari's handbook from her."

"Although we never met according to the recordings," Tokaku said dryly.

"But this recordings are wrong anyway," Marilyn said now, making all of us look at her in surprise.

"Look here. Ari waits until I have returned to my room before he goes back to his own. But I wasn't out there last night so this can't be what happened."

This was weird now – but why should Marilyn lie?

"Wait...does that mean these recordings are faked?" Reece asked with wide eyes.

"How cunning," Marilyn said with a grim expression. "They made us believe we knew the truth about what happened but Akira could easily trick us with them."

"And then Akira hurt himself to make it look like the murderer attacked him, too!" Vivienne said with sparkling eyes. "Though he in fact killed Sandrine!"

Panini shook her head in disbelief. "But he's just a little child!"

"A little child, yes," Daichi said. "But a highly intelligent prodigy at the same time. We shouldn't underestimate him."

Akira sighed. "I take this as a compliment. And I guess I should have expected that someone would blame me. But why would I fake these recordings? I still have hope that we will get out of here together – why would I ruin it with killing someone? Why would you think I am so filled with despair?"

"Well, I believe him," I said. "Maybe Monokuma messed with the recordings or the hacking wasn't really a success. Someone attacked Ari and stole his handbook and due to his injury he hallucinated things, just like Daichi said. And whoever did that killed Sandrine and attacked Akira."

"And that could have been everyone," Vivienne said. "No, I still believe it was Ari."

"But if Akira didn't hurt himself to make himself look innocent, why was he attacked then?" Reece asked. "Why wasn't Sandrine enough? You didn't see anything suspicious, did you, Akira?"

The little boy shook his head. "Unfortunately not or else I would have told you already."

"I guess someone attacked him to prevent him from hacking into the system and making those recordings," I said, making Akira frown slightly. "But I told no one that I was doing that. No one but you, Lewis."

"And I didn't tell anyone else," I said. "I guess this couldn't have been the motive then..."

Daichi cleared his throat once more. "I don't know if anyone ever told you, but you're talking in your sleep."

Now that was embarrassing. I could easily imagine Daichi sitting next to me and writing everything down I was muttering. "What, really?" I asked and he added "It may be a reaction to the emotional stress here. But since you were sleeping in the living room everyone could have heard something."

"He already talks enough when he's awake," Marilyn said. "I don't have to listen to him when he's asleep." "That would be a bit creepy, wouldn't it?" Reece asked.

"Well, to be very honest," Daichi said. "I can imagine one person to listen to him everytime, even when he's sleeping. And I'm talking about you, Panini."

The girl's eyes widened while she blushed a bit. "This may be true," she admitted, playing nervously with her one long pigtail. "It's not that weird, right?"

"And did you hear anything about Akira's plans?" Daichi asked, making Panini shift uncomfortably. "I-I don't know." "How could you not know?" he asked. "Did you or did you not?"

"Leave her alone," I said. "Panini hasn't anything to do with this anyway." Daichi gave me a somehow lenient look. "And this, Lewis, is exactly the reason I don't let personal feelings interfere."

"This is not about personal feelings," I protested. "I just know that Panini wouldn't kill anyone. She always talked about how no one should die anymore, there is no reason she would let you all die here. Certainly she would never attack Akira. And I've spent a lot of time with her, if she suddenly snapped I would have noticed that. And..."

But I also failed to notice how Amelia snapped… Nor did I notice Hachiku was ready to murder someone… But Panini was different, wasn't she?

And yet, I suddenly remembered how she just painted everyone as if she had already accepted their deaths as an inevitable thing. Maybe…if she knew that she could at least save one more person… and she wanted to tell me something important, right before we found Akira.

Somehow I got a completely new feeling about her question if Sandrine died in pain. Had that been guilt? And her last question to me, if we would be fine. Because we would find the murderer...or because the two of us would get out of here? And suddenly I had to think about another question, if I had to choose between Panini or the others how would I decide?

"Lewis?" she asked, looking nervously at me as I didn't continue to talk.

Tokaku struck the table. "Come on, it wasn't Nini! She is the most innocent girl I know, she could never bear seeing someone die! I just know she would never kill!"

Panini looked touched by her words, smiling at her, and I immediately lost all thoughts I had about her being the culprit.

Daichi looked at Tokaku. "And what do you think was the reason Akira got attacked?"

The black-haired girl shrugged. "He was probably the easiest victim here. Maybe the culprit even attacked him before they attacked Sandrine."

"Why did they attack Sandrine then?" Marilyn asked angrily and I immediately knew an answer to that. "I guess it has something to do with the photos Sandrine took."

"Photos?" Reece asked surprised and I explained "She always carried a camera around with her but now it has vanished so I guess someone didn't want us to see whatever photos she took."

"Isn't that somehow silly?" Vivienne asked. "Why getting rid of the camera so we all know something is wrong with it? They could have simply deleted the photos on it."

"No, that wasn't possible," I corrected her. "It was a cheap old camera, you would have needed to get the film developed. They were probably afraid someone could somehow do that here."

"So is this like the first case?" Reece asked. "Maybe the murderer still has the film in his pockets."

"No one would be so stupid to make the same mistake twice," Vivienne said, rolling her eyes but still everyone showed the contents of their pockets. Of course we didn't find the film or anything else suspicious but it was somehow scary how many lighters Ari carried around with him.

"What was on those photos anyway?" Reece asked and Panini suggested "Do you think she saw something so horrible that she had to kill herself?"

"I really doubt it was suicide," Marilyn said."I rather believe it would be bad for the murderer if we saw the photos. Or maybe it would be bad for someone really close to the murderer."

"Something came to my mind," Daichi said there. "What if this time we had two culprits? Maybe one murderer and one accomplice. With the motive Monokuma gave us it would be possible if they promised each other to get out together."

 **!CLASS TRIAL SUSPENDED!**

 **Monomi would tell you to save now...**

 **So, what are you thinking so far? I'm really curious!**


	39. Class Trial III Part II

This theory made disturbingly much sense and we all had to think about that for a moment. "Plus I don't think when the murderer met Akira in the storage room, they grabbed a shovel from there and attacked him," Daichi added. "Because there were no shovels in the storage room before."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "There are a lot of things there."

"I am sure," Daichi said. "When we searched the room after the first trial I made a note of everything dangerous we found there. If there had been any shovels I would have known that."

"So, someone already brought a shovel with them when they went there?" Marilyn asked. "So their intention was clear. Well, you two would work together, right?" She pointed from Tokaku to Vivienne and both girls glared back at her. "But we didn't!" Tokaku said and Marilyn quickly came up with a new theory. "What if Sandrine somehow witnessed your little romance?" This time she pointed from Vivienne to Ari. "I'm sure you wouldn't want Tokaku to know."

Vivienne fanned herself and shook her head in disbelief. "We do not have and never had any kind of romance, all right?!"

"I also doubt that you would need two people to kill one girl who wasn't even good at self-defence," Artyom added.

"What about this?" Reece suggested. "Someone attacked Akira and Sandrine somehow made a photo of it. Someone else witnessed that and killed her to help the first attacker."

"I doubt that," I had to object. "Akira was attacked this morning, probably after Sandrine's death. And even if she wasn't dead yet then this couldn't be the motive. Has anyone been in her room after her death? I mean besides me, Panini, Vivienne, Marilyn and Daichi?"

The others just shook their heads, probably wondering why I suddenly asked this. "Then you can't know," I continued. "We found her diary and the last entry was missing. It was about yesterday and so I assume that whatever she photographed also happened yesterday, probably before Monokuma gave us the motives since the entry about that was missing as well."

"And what do you think has happened?" Tokaku asked and I suggested that we tried to reconstruct what everyone had been doing this afternoon. "I was just sleeping the entire time," I said before I nodded towards Panini next to me. "How about you?"

She looked at me, wide-eyed and nervously. "Um, I don't remember."

"She was with me," Tokaku said quickly. "We spent the entire afternoon together."

Artyom standing next to her told us how he first looked after Tani, together with Ari, before Daichi approached them and they had a little talk.

Marilyn said how she went shopping with Sandrine to cheer her up and after the girl said she wanted to go to bed Marilyn went to Tani to check on her.

Akira had been busy with trying to hack into the handbook-system and didn't leave his room for once so of course he didn't see a thing of Sandrine.

Jason stammered that he had been together with Reece, trying to divert themselves with comics. Apparently later Ari had come to them as well.

Vivienne did have a little talk with Daichi about the incident with Tani before she went to her room to get some sleep. "And no, I didn't meet Sandrine," she claimed.

Daichi confirmed that he talked with Vivienne and Artyom, trying to test their reactions to the incident.

Reece also confirmed Jason's testimony just like Ari who first checked on Tani and then met the other boys.

"So apparently no one saw Sandrine after she said she went to bed," Daichi summed up our reconstruction. "Unless Lewis, Vivienne, Akira or Marilyn lie since they are the only ones who don't have an alibi for the entire time."

"I don't lie!" Vivienne claimed angrily and Marilyn's eyes started to dangerously glow once more. "I really hope for you that you didn't just suspect me!"

"M-maybe S-Sandrine d-didn't s-see a-any of u-us," Jason thought out loud. "B-but something M-M-Monokuma didn't w-want her t-to s-see?"

"No, I'm as innocent as a cub here," Monokuma happily said, taking all of us by surprise with his sudden interference.

We were still wondering what ever could have happened to Sandrine this afternoon as Panini shyly said "Well, I don't know if this is of any importance here… but after yesterday I suddenly had some weird bruises I don't know where they are from." "Where?" I asked with a frown and she patted her chest.

"Oh, do you mind showing them to us?" Reece asked and Vivienne rolled her eyes. "You're the worst!"

"No, actually I think it's a good idea," I said. "If you're not too uncomfortable about it, Panini. But maybe it would be of help seeing what you mean with 'weird bruises'."

"Don't listen to them," Tokaku said. "You don't have to show anyone if you don't want to." But Panini straightened herself in determination and although she looked down at her feet blushing she quickly took off her apron and unbuttoned her blouse.

Indeed there were a few discolourations, both on her chest and the beginning of her neck. Focussing on them and on nothing else I said "I guess those are love bites."

"What?" Panini asked in confusion while she covered herself again. "No one ever bit me!"

"Are you sure?" Marilyn asked me and I shrugged. "I have no other idea how she could get bruises there. But tell us, Panini, you have no idea how you got them?"

"No, I swear I don't know!" she affirmed, looking at me with wide eyes again and I just found my theory confirmed. "Well, this is really weird, isn't it?" I asked. "Panini can't remember what happened last afternoon. Vivienne don't remember being outside last night. And Marilyn can't remember that either. All those girls with sudden indications of amnesia… Don't you think that's weird, Tokaku?"

She frowned slightly. "Yes, it is. What's your point?"

"I just remembered something," I said. "What you told me after Aviana's death. You wanted to plant some flowers for her, right?" "Do you have a problem with that?" she asked back and I smiled. "No, it was very nice of you. But I'm sure you needed a little shovel for that."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Wait a sec! Are you trying to blame me?"

"You know what is weird?" I asked in return. "That Sandrine apparently just went to the pool with someone. I really doubt she would have just gone with Ari, she was extremely nervous and I could imagine that this got even worse after she knew that there was a new motive.

But if she had been hypnotised she would have gone with you without any hesitation, right, Tokaku?"

The girl crossed her arms. "Yes but she could also have gone with someone else." "I know, I know," I said. "But there would be no other person but you who could make Marilyn forget that she left her room. And no other person who could make Vivienne forget about what happened that night. And also no other person was together with Panini yesterday afternoon, so if someone could know how she got those bruises, it would be you. So, would you like to tell us something, Tokaku?"

She didn't say anything but I could see how she was thinking about it, trying to find something to save her neck.

It was Vivienne who responded to me. "Hold it! You're really trying to blame Tokaku like this?! That's absurd! Everyone could have chosen such a shovel! Reece, for example, I remember that he used one for his stupid traps!"

"Hey!" Reece protested but the girl ignored him. "So that is no proof at all! And what about you? Sandrine wouldn't have gone to the pool with Ari but what about you, Lewis? You look pretty trustworthy to me. And Panini even more, she is so cute and innocent, why should Sandrine have been afraid of her? Plus you're the ones who knew about Akira's recordings so you have a motive. And those love bites – I'm sure you made them on purpose so you could blame Tokaku now! And now Panini is pretending to have memory loss! And Ari did hallucinate!"

"Vivi..." Panini looked really shocked about this accusation. "Do you really believe I would lie?"

"And Marilyn is lying as well?" I asked and Vivienne glared at me. "Yes, she is! She has to! Or the recording is faked, yes, that's it. Panini and Akira were working together! He faked the recordings and she attacked him later so he wouldn't tell anything!"

"But...that's horrible!" Panini said. Akira simply shook his head. "I would never help anyone to murder."

Ari cleared his throat. "Well, Vivi, if I was just hallucinatin' then explain why I know that you have such love bites on your chest as well."

Vivienne gasped for breath. "You pervert! Were you peeking at me?" But I could see that she finally started to believe. Ari crossed his arms. "In your own bathroom or what? How should I have done that?" Vivienne just bit her lip, slowly lowering her head.

"While we're talking about bathroom," I said. "I noticed something interesting. When Ari told his story you were totally calm, Tokaku. But as soon as I made a comment about Vivienne and me you reacted much more shocked. Because you already knew Ari would say something like that, right?"

Tokaku kept silent and no one else said a word either, filling the room with an eerie silence.

I took a deep breath and said more softly "I remember how you told me about your dream, Tokaku. How you always wished to find your true love and settle down with her. You never gave up on that dream, right?"

Tokaku sighed and smiled sadly. "No, I never did. I am sorry."


	40. Execution III

**RubyLeo:** **Tokaku should get an award for that, shouldn't she? I can understand that you're furious now but I have to say that I still like Tokaku. But I also still like Hachiku/Junpei. :)**

 **Dashunterman:** **That would be really cruel, wouldn't it? xD**

 **Colossal Fighter GX:** **I guess you could call that love. Or madness. It might be the same.**

"What do you mean, you're sorry?" Marilyn asked angrily. "You did it?!"

"No!" Vivienne protested. "Tokaku, that's a lie, right? You wouldn't do something like that, right?"

"I am sorry," Tokaku repeated, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "I really wanted that it never happened again."

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching carefully as her shoulders started to tremble. "It happened way too often," she murmured. "I...I used to have this little private practice, you know? I was really popular, many and many women would come to be hypnotised by me."

No one dared to interrupt her as she talked and so she continued "You...you have no idea how beautiful a woman can be when she's in a trance. They all looked like sleeping princesses, only waiting for a prince to come and kiss them. But I knew that wouldn't be right, of course I knew that. But it got harder to resist. They were so very beautiful, never minding it when I touched or even kissed them. I know, I am such a horrible person! But it felt so wonderful at that time and I thought since they won't remember it afterwards, no one will have a problem with it."

"I understand," Daichi said, calm as usually, not showing any kind of judgement. "You said, you _used_ to have a practice? What happened?"

"I did that way too often," Tokaku repeated. "But one time a client whimpered slightly and I finally understood what I was doing there. Before I ever could be tempted again I closed my practise immediately and barely hypnotised again. I really hoped that no one would ever find out about this.

But yesterday… Everyone was so nervous after Tani got hurt and Nini came to me, terribly afraid that something else would happen and I just wanted her to feel safer so I offered her a hypnosis to free her mind from all those sorrows. But… I just couldn't resist, I just couldn't. And then Sandrine came, taking her photos and..."

"I can't believe this!" Marilyn looked like she was about to explode. "Because of that you killed Sandrine?! Because you're a fucked-up perverted bitch who just takes what she wants without caring about other people's feelings?!"

Tokaku stared at her, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. "Have you ever been in love?" she asked back. "Do you know how much it hurts when you're getting rejected? And you still want that person to be happy? I never wanted to hurt Nini but… but I just wanted to caress her once in my life. If only Sandrine hadn't come then… I made her forgot about what she saw and took her camera away but I was so afraid she would remember again. Or look for her camera. I was just so afraid, I couldn't think of anything else anymore. I knew everyone would hate me for it when they found out and I just couldn't bare the thought of Nini hating me! And Vivi, I knew it would hurt her to find out and I didn't want that either!

And then Monokuma told us about this motive and I knew I could finally get out of here! I never wanted anything else but being with my love! It hurt so much when Avi died, I was so afraid I would have to experience that again! I didn't really think about what I was doing, I was just trying to make sure that Sandrine wouldn't tell anyone and I knew Nini could get out of here as well and I could at least save her!

And when I saw Akira I… I somehow thought if I would kill two people I could take two people with me and Nini and Vivi and me could get out of here together. But when I hit him, he was still breathing and I...just couldn't finish him off. I mean, he's just a child!"

By now she was crying but she tried to regain her composure. "I am so sorry what I did to you," she finally said, looking both at Panini and Vivienne. "I'm just glad that in the end I didn't have to choose between you two..."

And so we had to vote while Tokaku just hang her head and waited for it. Only Vivienne refused to vote, her expression a desperate determination. "Congratulations!" Monokuma said, happily throwing his paws into the air. "The murderer is Tokaku Nishimiya!"

Before anyone could react Tokaku's pedestal had opened, making her fall into the darkness. No one said a word as we all watched how the door opened, showing us the execution room. Tokaku was sitting on a chair, handcuffs preventing her from getting away but she didn't look like she wanted to escape.

Instead she looked at us, trying to smile through her tears. Despite everything that happened she was still beautiful, like a dark, rotting rose. "I want to be the last one to die," she said, one last time enchanting us with her silky voice. "I hope you all can get out of here!"

Monokuma just giggled. "Now then – let's give it everything we've got! Iiiiiit's punishment time!"

And with that another Monokuma appeared, walking towards Tokaku and carrying something with him. As he placed it in front of Tokaku we could see that it was a giant wheel with a black and white spiral painted on it.

As soon as Monokuma started it, another bear appeared, forcing Tokaku to stare directly at the spinning spiral until her eyes glazed over. Just then Vivienne jumped from her pedestal and ran towards the room as fast as her high heels allowed it.

Quickly I followed her, grabbing her by the arm and holding her back before she could reach the room. "Let me go!" she screamed, struggling with more strength than I had expected. "Monokuma will just kill you, too," I tried to explain but I couldn't get through to her. "I have to help her!" she yelled, still trying to get free. "I won't let Monokuma have her!"

By now a spotlight had turned on and showed us a dais with a pistol on top. The handcuffs on Tokaku's wrists fell off and slowly she walked to the dais, the same empty expression on her face. Her hand was shaking slightly but she still grabbed the pistol, making Vivienne scream even more. "No, Tokaku! Please! Don't do this, please!"

It looked like the black-haired girl was trying to resist but her hand worked on its own, we all saw how she raised the pistol to her temple and slowly pulled the trigger. Water splashed on her face, making her gasp in shock as she finally snapped out of her trance and stared at the weapon in her hand which turned out to be a water pistol. She looked over to us and with an ear-shattering bang her head was torn to shreds, a fine rain of blood, skull and brain splattering the stage.

The next moment the body toppled down and with a horrible scream Vivienne collapsed as well. Monokuma put his rifle back to where he had it from and wiped an invisible drop of sweat away. With that the doors to the room closed while everyone just stood there, in a shocked silence. No matter how often we had to see this, it would never stop affecting us.

Vivienne whimpered quietly, violently shaking in my arms and I knew that there were no words to soften her pain. Finally she turned around and I had the feeling that her eyes were nearly piercing me. "Let go of me, _bastard_!" she hissed.

I quickly took a step back, groping for words. "It was impossible for you to save her," I tried to explain but she didn't even listen. "We could have got out of here together!" she screamed, tearing her hair. "We could have been _happy_!"

"She wanted to sacrifice us all," Ari tossed in. "And she made out with another girl. Doesn't sound like the perfect match, if you ask me."

"You!" Vivienne pointed with her fan at him as if she wanted to impale him with it. "Tokaku should have just killed you when she attacked you! Then we would have never got these problems! I wished you were dead! I wished you all were dead!" And with that she collapsed to the ground, still crying while the others watched her in consternation. Only Marilyn had crossed her arms, without any pity in her eyes.

Daichi had stepped next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "She doesn't know what she is saying right now," he said calmly. "She has a shock but she will eventually recover from it. Just leave her in peace."

He was right, I had someone else to take care of.

Panini wasn't screaming, not even crying out loud. She was just kneeling there, staring ahead with hollow eyes, her lips moving slightly without any sound. Carefully I touched her shoulder and she quickly turned around to hug me. I could feel her trembling in my arms, such a frail, trusting, little thing. Without thinking about it I pulled her a bit closer, literally feeling the envious glares on us. Despite the others things she did Tokaku would have tried to protect Panini, I knew that. Without her it was up to me.

"Why?" I could hear Panini mumble into my shoulder. "I can't believe Tokaku would do these things… we were such good friends..." "I know," I said softly. "The problem was that she didn't think of you as just a good friend. And that is dangerous here."

REMAINING STUDENTS: 11


	41. Crime Special III

**Thank you all so much for your reviews!**

 **RubyLeo:** **By now you shouldn't have any classes, right? ;) And I hope you enjoy the little crime special!**

 **FireDusk:** **I think Daichi could use this entire story as a proof for his theory. :)**

 **Dashunterman:** **Now I'm curious about your dark suspicion!**

 **Colossal Fighter GX:** **Unfortunately not… :(**

 **CG's-Dreamland:** **Great, then you understand Monokuma's humour!**

 **TheRoseShadow21:** **I'm really glad you liked the trial that much! It's also one of my favourites.**

Tokaku was laying on her bed, flipping through the pages of a comic book but she just couldn't focus on it. Her thoughts kept on wandering to what happened this afternoon, again and again she felt the smooth forest floor and heard the wind rushing through the branches.

It had been the perfect place to go with Nini, a place both tranquil and beautiful. For a moment Nini had smiled at her, this beaming smile that always made Tokaku's heart beat faster. For some reason Tokaku longed for this smile to be hers, she wanted the cute little artist all for herself and never share her with anyone else. Just why didn't feel Nini the same way?

Or maybe that was the point, Tokaku thought with a bitter smile. That the human heart always longed for something it could never have. She felt like she read this sentence somewhere but as far as she could remember the couple in the story got a happy ending.

For a very short time she had felt some happiness, too, or maybe some triumph for finally being able to caress her beloved. Probably she even had been the first person whoever kissed Nini. That was something no one could take away from her and yet… her happiness hadn't last very long.

It hadn't been enough, she didn't just want to be the one giving love, she wanted to receive some as well. Of course she could have made Panini kiss her but that wasn't what she wanted. And just then she had heard the clicking of a camera coming nearer. Tokaku had given her best to quickly button Nini's blouse and get away from her but it had already been to late.

She still could see Sandrine's surprised face, her round eyes who didn't understand what she was seeing there.

Tokaku smacked her head with the comic book, biting her lips. Oh, why, why, why did that happen?! Why hadn't she been able to resist? No, it hadn't been her fault, right? It was Sandrine's own fault for coming there at this time! Or maybe it had been Nini's fault for just not returning her love! But no…how could something like this be Nini's fault?

Tokaku's thoughts were rotating in her head as she heard a soft knocking on her door and she almost felt her heart stop. So, the first step of her plan had been done, now there was no going back anymore.

She opened the door to greet Vivi. "Did you get it?" she whispered and the blonde nodded, her eyes still a bit duller than usual. Nevertheless she looked hot in her negligée and with the slightly reddened cheeks. Tokaku just couldn't resist here, she bent over and kissed the girl, pulling her close to her. This was no hypnosis, Vivi happily returned her kiss, pressing her body against Tokaku's.

Vivi was a great girl, Tokaku noticed once more. She could be funny and creative and caring. She could be teasingly arrogant and had a body that would drive anyone crazy. But still, she lacked something that Panini had although Tokaku wasn't exactly sure what is was.

Playing with one of her amazingly light hair strands Tokaku kissed Vivi one last time before she let go of her and looked deep into her eyes. "You will return to your room," she purred. "You will forget about everything that happened this night. And then you'll wake up."

"Good night, Tokaku," Vivi said with a smile before she turned around and walked back to her room.

The black-haired girl waited until she was gone before she took a deep breath and went to knock on Sandrine's door.

With a nervous expression on her face the small girl opened the door and eyed Tokaku with a hint of suspicion. "Good evening," the hypnotist smiled. "Sorry for coming over at that time but I just can't sleep and no one else opened the door. Can I come in maybe? Don't worry, I'm not armed." It was like she worked automatically, one part was cheerfully showing her empty hands, the other part of her was silently screaming the entire time.

"Um, okay." Sandrine took a step back to let her in and Tokaku pulled out her golden chain. "Sandrine, look," she said and the moment the girl looked at the ruby her fate was sealed.

Tokaku wasn't thinking about anything as the two of them went to the swimming pool, two dark figures in an even darker night. She was only worrying for her plan to fail because any moment someone would have to come and see them or Sandrine would suddenly snap out of her hypnosis and run away screaming.

But nothing happened and soon they had reached the pool which was still empty at that time, just like Tokaku had planned it. Ari's handbook felt cold in her hand and she wondered if this actually would be of any importance or if she was doing all this in vain.

Sandrine was standing next to her, a peaceful expression on her face. She actually looked less afraid than ever before.

For a moment Tokaku still hesitated but then she had to think of what would happen if Sandrine would only waste one word about the incident. She could see the disgust on Nini's face, the bitter disappointment in Vivi's eyes, the hate and condemnation in everyone else's looks. With that in mind she turned around to Sandrine and without much strength she pushed her right into the pool.

For a moment she could see the stars reflected in Sandrine's eyes, then the girl fell down and crushed onto the hard ground of the pool. Tokaku watched her, breathing heavily, but the other girl didn't show any sign of life anymore and Tokaku decided to quickly leave again.

She ran back to the hostel, rushed up the stairs and nearly ran into Marilyn. Tokaku quickly dropped the handbook before she entered the corridor, trying to look as innocent as she could.

"Hello, Tokaku," Marilyn said with a frown. "Have you seen Sandrine maybe?" Tokaku almost felt her heart stop beating. _What, what, what, what, what?!_ "No, why?" she croaked and Marilyn's frown deepened. "Her door is wide open but she isn't inside her room. I'm a bit worried she would run away again."

 _Why didn't she close that damn door right?!_ "Maybe she just went to the kitchen," Tokaku said weakly but Marilyn already looked down at her handbook. "Why is she..." she murmured. "And what is Ari doing?"

Tokaku could see her plan crumble in front of her eyes and so she quickly pulled out her chain once more and said "Marilyn, just look!" Luckily the other girl looked over to her, already enchanted after one glance. "Nothing happened this night," Tokaku purred. "You were sleeping soundly in your room and there was nothing to worry about."

Thankfully Marilyn went back to her room and Tokaku closed her eyes for a second, trying to calm down again. Everything would be fine, everything would be fine.

Then she quickly rushed to Sandrine's room but before she closed the door she stepped inside and looked for this little diary Sandrine owned. Unfortunately Tokaku didn't understand a word of French so she just ripped out the entire last entry. If Sandrine had written down anything that would make her look suspicious, it was gone now.

Back in her own room Tokaku quickly put on the costume she had brought from the mall earlier. It was a squirrel and looked totally ridiculous but it was the best thing she found to cover her entire body. The costume felt hot and thick on her body and both walking and seeing were a bit difficult in it but it wouldn't be a problem. Tokaku grabbed her little shovel and left her room to quickly get Ari's handbook back before she knocked on his door. At least no one else turned up.

Ari quickly opened the door and without any hesitation this time Tokaku flattened him with her shovel. It was a bit difficult to get his handbook back into the pocket of his pants but it worked and finally Tokaku hid her costume under his bed before she rushed back into her room.

There she waited for her heart beat to slow down again but she couldn't help but feel like it wasn't over yet. Was there something she missed, something she forgot? She couldn't think of anything and although she wanted nothing more than visiting one of her beloved girls now she stayed in bed, not even bothering to change her clothes.

She watched the time passing on her handbook and although she dozed off from time to time she always quickly woke up again. Then finally she noticed that there was a bloody spot on her shovel, a very little one but if someone would see it they would get suspicious of her. It would be the best to hide the shovel at a safe place. And what place would be better to hide something than the storage room?

Tokaku grabbed the little shovel and left her room once more, making her way to the storage room. Somehow she felt relieved that she remembered this little detail. She even dared to think about the future once if everything would work out.

They could go to a place no one would have heard about them. Nini could sell her paintings and Tokaku could maybe open up a little practice again. They could live happily together and maybe Nini would return her love then… when she had recovered from seeing everyone die… she probably would be completely traumatised by this and maybe she would even hate Tokaku for it… but no, Tokaku had saved her, Nini would have to be grateful… but she would probably be very sad about Lewis's death… and Vivi's… Vivi would die, too… Tokaku bit her lip until she could taste blood. Damn it, she didn't want Vivi to die. Actually she didn't really want any of the others to die. But it was the only way out, right?

She opened the door to the storage room and saw a little figure there, flipping through the pages of some book. For one moment Tokaku had the feeling to see Avi in front of her and her weeks turned weak. Then the blinked and of course it wasn't Avi who was standing there, it was the little boy. How silly of her to think Avi would be here!

But her determination deepened. She wouldn't lose any girl she loved again! She would save both Nini and Vivi!

Akira turned around and she lunged out with her shovel.

 **And the third part is done.**

 **The poll for the Free time events is opened again so vote for those you would like to see more!**


	42. For the sake of health: Chapter I

It wasn't easy after the trial. Already after the last two ones I had experienced that everyone needed some time for themselves, probably to come to terms with what they had just seen. I couldn't tell if it became worse after every trial or if I just forgot how terrible it had been the last times.

When we finally left the court room Vivienne just ran to her room, ignoring everyone of us and slamming the door shut behind her. I was worried about her but I guessed that Daichi would be more likely able to get through to her. Of course I knew that he was more of an analytical scientist than a therapist but I still hoped he would help the others a bit.

Panini seemed to be completely lost in her desperation and so I gave her my undivided attention as I carefully helped her to her room. She didn't say anything, just curled up on her bed and stared at the ceiling with wide, hollow eyes. I knew there was nothing I could say to ease her pain, all I could do was staying with her to show her that she wasn't alone here. And so I was sitting next to her until she finally fell asleep.

Yet, as I left my room the next morning there were the pictures of Sandrine and Tokaku pinned to their doors, both of them beautifully drawn like snapshots of happy moments. This made me hope that Panini had already recovered but breakfast proved me wrong.

There were only six of us who appeared at all. Panini was looking down at her plate without making a sound, looking as lifeless as yesterday.

Marilyn had calmed down from her furious state but I could still sense her anger, probably to protect herself from her own sadness.

Ari was still holding his probably hurting head and looked like he had to fight with a guilty conscience.

Jason apparently struggled with depression as he tried to be of help for the others despite his own shock.

And Daichi was just taking notes in his little journal as usual. "Akira is still resting," he told us casually. "He needs it."

"I tried to talk to Vivienne," Ari confessed. "But she won't leave her room." "Well, this is understandable," Daichi said and Panini suddenly burst into tears, making Marilyn banging her fist on the table. "Damn it, I can't understand how someone could get sad about that bitch! She was a murderer!"

Finally the door opened once more and Reece and Artyom came in, looking much more hopeful than I had expected. "There are new areas again," Artyom proclaimed and to my surprise he was even grinning. "And you guess, what is there?"

We just waited for him to give us an answer and it was Reece who quickly said "A hospital! There are no other people unfortunately but actual medical care! We just brought Tani there."

"Do you think that's safe?" Marilyn asked and the boys just shrugged. "It's her best chance after all," Artyom replied calmly. He was right about that and it even brought some new hope to us all, if there was actually a hospital we would be able to deal with injuries better. But why would Monokuma try to give us new hope?

"We should probably investigate the new areas," Daichi suggested calmly. Ari muttered that he would rather rest and Panini just looked down again. Knowing that she wouldn't come along I thought that I should better look after her and I was just about to say that as Daichi approached me. "You're coming with me, right, Lewis?"

He sounded completely calm but I sensed that he wanted to talk about something. And so I agreed, promising Panini that I would check on her as soon as we were back.

Silently we left the hostel, following the familiar street towards the forest. It was a bit irritating but it looked like the fences would always lead us to the same direction and I wondered what would eventually await us there.

"Are you mad at Tokaku?" Daichi finally asked me. "Because of what she did to Sandrine? And what she did to Panini?"

"No," I replied. "It's not that I approve of what she did, of course I wished it never happened. But Tokaku was my friend and I want to keep her in good memory. She died so what is the good of being mad at her afterwards? Despite the mistakes she did she was a wonderful person, wasn't she?"

"Mistakes," Daichi repeated thoughtfully. "So you're sad about her death?"

"Of course," I said. "How could I not be sad about the death of a friend? I'm also sad about Sandrine. I never even understood why she was always so nervous. But, if that is what you're going to ask next, I don't regret getting close to them. I'm happy that I could meet them."

Daichi didn't reply to that, just watched me with this observing look of his. Somehow it made me feel uncomfortable and I tried to ask him something in return. "How do you feel about this?"

"I guess it is a pity that two young women had to die," Daichi said with a pretty emotionless voice. "But I think now I understand better how Monokuma is working. And it is quite interesting to see how people react to this. For example Vivienne. If we regard how she usually acts we would probably call her an arrogant, spoiled girl. We expect that she gets angry when someone accuses her but surprisingly she also defends others if they are close to her, even quite passionately."

"I know. She really has a good side," I smiled and Daichi arched an eyebrow. "Of course you would call it that. I don't judge if that is a positive or negative side of her but I see that it hurts her even more. If she defends someone like this it must break her heart even more if that person gets hurt. It makes her more vulnerable. And now that Tokaku has died without her being able to prevent it I would be very careful with her.

Marilyn on the other hand is much more unpredictable to me but she also lost those close to her and it affects her. She acts rather angry than sad though.

I guess the more you love the more it will destroy you in the end but of course I can only hypothesise, so I'm interested to see if they will recover from their loss or if they will break down."

He was so unfazed, it was really amazing. I wondered if I should act more like this as well.

"I also wanted to tell you that you did a good job during the trial," Daichi said. "Even though it must have been hard for you to do this you cornered Tokaku in the end." Before I could say something he continued "But I wondered, what if Panini would be the next culprit?"

"She wouldn't," I said and Daichi arched an eyebrow once more. "What makes you so sure about that? Monokuma is trying to create a situation where everyone could turn into a killer, even those who would never kill under normal circumstances. But just let us imagine this could happen. Do you think you would be able to let her get executed as well?"

I hesitated, trying to imagine the situation, trying to imagine how there was nothing left of Panini but bloody shreds. Daichi looked like he had expected this. "Since you're hesitating this is obviously a difficult decision for you. It wasn't that difficult with the other culprits, right? Well, that answers my question if you liked everyone here on an equal base." He wrote something down in his journal and I struggled for words.

"It is all right," Daichi said calmly. "But now I know that I can't fully trust you if it comes to another trial."

"Wait, wait," I protested. "Of course you can trust me! I wouldn't sacrifice all of you!" Why did conversations with Daichi turn out to be like this?

By now we had reached the forest and the bars next to it had vanished. More carefully looking around we entered the new area.

There was even more of the forest here, large areas of green, and as we walked around between the trees we could spot some more signs of life. Not only chirping birds but also squirrels and other rodents flitting around. For the first time in my life I even spotted some deer in the distance.

"I wonder why Monokuma lets them live here," Daichi murmured and I just shrugged. "Could we go somewhere else now?"

"Are you afraid of animals?" Daichi asked, immediately knowing the reason I wanted to leave. "Of course not," I protested. "I just don't like them." Thinking back at the rabbit I used to have I seriously wondered why people ever wanted to have a pet.

We left the forest and returned to the little streets. There was a pharmacy which offered several medications which could be useful if someone knew how to use them right.

And finally we found the hospital Reece and Artyom had told us about. It was a rather small building but entering it felt like getting some normality back. Though no one was around it looked clean and sterile like you expected it from a hospital. Yet as we were wandering around and looking into the rooms we had to discover that most of them were either completely empty or decayed.

From time to time we saw a little Monokuma running around but they never paid us any attention and since they were wearing nurse attires I guessed that they were working here.

Finally we found Tani's room, the only one so far which looked really clean and nice. The girl was lying in bed, bandages covering the parts of her body which weren't hidden by the blanket. Only a part of her face was visible for us and as we entered she opened one eye.

"So nice to see you, Tani!" I said, beaming at her. "How do you feel?" She just blinked as if to say 'What do you think how I feel here, idiot?' I was wondering if she was even able to already speak again as she croaked out "Sandrine and Tokaku?" Apparently someone must have told her what happened. "Yes," I said and she closed her eye in regret.

"But," I said, trying to sound as positive as possible. "We have you back!"

 **This was finished later than expected, somehow I struggled with writing this time.**

 **Anyway, reviews would be nice and don't forget to vote if you haven't done that already.**


	43. For the sake of health: Chapter II

**FireDusk:** **That was the motive I originally had in mind...**

 **RubyLeo:** **A shipping for everyone? For Marilyn, too? And for Daichi? And for Akira? xD**

"I m-made t-this m-myself," Jason stammered as he shyly showed us the bowl he brought with him. "W-would you t-try it?"

As Daichi had left again I had decided to stay with Tani for some more time. I wasn't sure if she was appreciating it or if I just annoyed her again but I thought that it would be good to keep her some company. And then Jason had turned up, bringing some food with him.

"I thought the f-food in h-hospitals i-is always b-bad," he said, blushing slightly. "S-so, I m-made you s-something." He was really considerate, I noticed once more. Even Tani wouldn't turn him down in such a situation, no, she actually thanked the tall boy.

The only problem was that it was difficult for her to eat. Due to the damage her jaw had taken she was barely able to open her mouth and chewing was absolutely impossible. Also Tani shouldn't move her arms which made it even more difficult. I could understand very well how someone like her would hate to be seen in such a helpless state and I wondered how I could make her feel more at ease.

"I could feed you," I offered, making her glare at me. "No!" I should have known that she would react like this but I still thought that it would be better to be fed by a human being than by these creepy Monokuma nurses.

Jason apparently gathered all his courage before he asked "M-may I?" There was an awkward moment of silence until Tani murmured "Alright. Thanks."

To prevent this scene from getting too embarrassing I changed the topic. "Do you know if hospital food really is that bad?" I asked. "I never really had to stay in a hospital for long so I have no idea."

Jason was very carefully offering Tani a spoonful of his soup before he answered "I've b-been in one s-some y-years a-ago. A-appendix o-operation. B-but I d-don't really r-remember the f-food."

"Have you been?" I asked Tani, remembering the scars on her hands. "Never," she simply replied and I decided that it would be better not to push her. The situation was bad enough for her, she wouldn't have to talk about things she didn't like.

After some more spoons of soup Tani was done and trying to maintain her dignity she thanked Jason once again for his efforts. Still as red as a tomato the boy just nodded.

Tani had to swallow some pills the Monokuma nurses had brought her. That was quite risky since no one could know what kind of pills those were but since she was still not healthy enough to leave the bed it would probably be better to accept the help she got.

"If you want to rest we can leave," I said but to my surprise Tani shook her head a little. "Had enough rest," she murmured and I beamed at her. If she didn't mind us staying with her, she really had opened up a bit! Maybe we would actually become friends in the end!

And so Jason started to draw a bit more while I talked a bit to the injured girl. "It was really brave of you to jump at that car," I said. "Was stupid," she murmured and I smiled encouragingly. "Still it was one of the bravest actions I've ever seen. You're not afraid to get up again, are you?"

"Can't wait to," she replied, just what I had wanted to hear. "I'm sure you soon will," I continued. "But you know, it wouldn't be weird here if you'd be scared. So, if you ever feel afraid of something don't hesitate to speak with someone about it. We would all like to help you." She just nodded, probably damning her situation.

Here Jason stopped his drawing and proclaimed "I f-finished the c-comic… for T-T-Tokaku." His eyes were reflecting his sadness as he insecurely looked down at the paper. "Would you like to show me?" I asked and he gave me the pages he had.

It was a short little comic story about Takako Nishiyama, the beautiful super heroine. Though neither the story nor the design were extraordinary well done it was obvious to see how much effort Jason had put into it. I knew that Tokaku would have loved it and remembering her beautiful singing voice she would probably even had thought of a nice theme song. And Alice could have played the music to it…

"W-what do you th-think?" Jason asked carefully and I quickly smiled again. "It is great. It's like a nice memory of Tokaku. And I think we should keep her in memory."

"Sh-should I show V-V-Vivienne?" Jason asked nervously and I thought about it for a moment. "Wait with it. I don't think she has recovered enough for it yet. But it is nice of you to think of her."

Jason looked happy about the praise and he carefully offered Tani to draw some comic about sea adventures. The girl nodded but I wasn't sure if she would really like that or just didn't want to be rude to Jason. Either way it was a nice act of her.

"I'd love to swim," Tani murmured, looking longingly towards the window. I could guess that it would take some time until she would be able to swim again and remembering how she resembled a fish in water I knew that this was hard for her. "You certainly will," I said. "Sooner than you think now." No one had used the pool again after Sandrine died in it but I didn't want to tell Tani about that.

Tani hesitated for a while, looking somehow embarrassed before she said "I need to take a bath."

Of course she couldn't just stop washing herself until she had fully recovered but I could see the problem there. Undressing herself would be difficult, going to a bathtub nearly impossible. And again having creepy Monokuma nurses helping you would be just terrible. But it was out of the question that Jason or I would help her, just the thought of it made Jason blush again. And I also didn't want to ask Panini or Vivienne since they were still too upset.

Marilyn was probably the best option here. Despite her current anger she had a caring side and probably wouldn't let Tani down. "I will ask Marilyn if she helps you out, if that is all right for you?" I offered and Tani nodded, still looking embarrassed. We then left and Jason told me that he would look for Marilyn. It looked like he was very determined to help.

Back in my room I could barely believe how quick the time had passed. Evening of another day had come once more and I wondered for the first time how long we actually had been here by now. Wasn't anyone missing us?

Just then I remembered that I had wanted to check on Panini once more. Yet as I knocked on her door no one answered and as I checked my handbook I found that she wasn't even here but near the forest. What was she doing outside at a time like this?

I would better follow her and watch out that nothing happened to her. Night time would begin soon and just like Monokuma said if you were outside at that time there was no guarantee that you would return unharmed.

Wandering through a forest in the dark of the night was certainly nothing I really liked to do. I could barely see anything and got constantly slapped by some branches while the wild creatures around me kept on rustling as if they were following me. Finally I came to a clearing where at least the moon was lighting up the night.

Panini had come here, looking incredibly lost as she was sitting on the ground, her arms twined around her knees, and stared up to the stars. "What are you doing here?" I asked, carefully coming nearer. "It could be dangerous here." I wouldn't have been surprised if Monokuma had brought a wolf pack here, just to punish those who were stupid enough to go outside in the dark.

Panini didn't react to it, she just looked at me with these terrible empty eyes. "Come on, we should go back," I said, offering her a hand. Panini took it and slowly got up. "Is it… is it my fault?" she asked. "What do you mean?" I wanted to know and she whispered "That Tokaku is dead. And that Sandrine had to die. And that Vivi is so sad."

By now I could see the tears in her eyes as she looked up to me and I smiled reassuringly. "Just why would you believe that? Nothing is your fault, Panini."

"But if I hadn't told everyone about those bruises, then…then Tokaku..." she started and I shook my head. "Everyone else would have died. You saved my life, you know? And Akira's. And Vivienne's. And everyone else's."

"But I just let her die," Panini sobbed. "Vivi tried to save her but I just didn't move. She even killed for me and I just let her die!"

"But that was the only thing you could have done," I said calmly. "It was not like you had a choice. You didn't have a chance to save her. And Tokaku knew that, she was fully aware that she had to die. But do you remember how she smiled? She felt relieved in the end."

Panini stared at me wide-eyed and under all her tears I thought I could see a little spark of hope before she hugged me all of a sudden. "If only… if only I hadn't been so selfish," she murmured. "Tokaku wouldn't have killed if only I hadn't spent so much time with her. But I… I really wanted us to be friends!"

"Everyone would understand that," I reassured her, softly patting her back. "And no one would call you selfish. Who knows what would have happened if you just rejected Tokaku? Maybe it would have driven her mad. And you even tried to help her. You wanted her to get together with Vivienne after all."

"And now Vivi suffers from it," Panini whispered. "Just because I had to be selfish she is suffering now." "You wanted them to be happy together," I said. "Why would you call that selfish?"

"Because," she said, looking up to me again. "Because I just wanted..." But before she could finish her sentence we heard a crackle and as we turned around we could see a boar slowly approaching us. I backed away from the huge animal and murmured "We should really leave now." But Panini finally smiled at me again. "It's just a pig." Her last word was almost drowned by a loud gunshot.

Panini screamed and I quickly hugged her again, so she wouldn't turn around to look at the boar.

"Oh, sorry!" someone said and Artyom quickly entered the clearing as well, his gun still in hands. "I didn't know you guys were here."

Panini had turned into a trembling crying mess and I tried my best to calm her down again. I wanted to say that it was just an animal but then I remembered how she cried as Monokuma told us the story about this silly bird she once hurt. Panini probably could never look at a dead animal without starting to cry, especially not in the situation we were in. Plus I feared that Tokaku's execution had left her with a trauma you couldn't just ignore.

If anyone else had started to shoot and kill after what we had faced yesterday I would have guessed that they turned mad. But for the Ultimate Hunter this was probably one of the most normal things to do. Artyom quickly grabbed the boar and with one last apologizing look in our direction he dragged it back into the forest.

Since Panini wouldn't walk on her own anymore I lifted her up and carried her through the forest. I just hoped that we wouldn't walk into another animal or get completely lost. There was no possible way I would be able to carry Panini the whole way back to the hostel but I would try to hold her as long as possible. As I looked up I could see some stars between the treetops and watching them I promised to heal Panini from her trauma.


	44. For the sake of health: Chapter III

**FireDusk : Thank you! And I'm sorry that I changed the story but the disease-line I originally had planned just really didn't make much sense. ^^' I could only write about what was supposed to happen. **

**RubyLeo:** **I hope you have recovered by now. ;) Thanks again for your list and the other support.**

Somehow we had made it back to the hostel, yet I felt like I got barely some minutes of sleep this night and so I felt terribly tired the next morning. Panini looked even worse and I guessed that she did have a terrible nightmare. Silently I offered her my arms and she just hugged me, at least without crying this time.

Together we made our way to the dining room. Of course Tani wasn't there and Vivienne didn't appear either but all the others had gathered together once more. Surprisingly they even looked like they were in a good mood today.

"I'm really sorry about last night," Artyom apologised after he saw the dark circles under Panini's eyes. "But now we can make great roast for dinner. Every day!" He really seemed to be happy about that and I remembered how his team just made a meat plate at our little cooking tournament.

"We made a bet," Ari informed us. "Who will be able to catch the most animals."

"That's cruel!" Panini complained while I asked "Wouldn't Artyom win that any way?" The hunter grinned. "It's true, nothing can escape my rifle."

"Just so you know, I never give up on a bet," Ari said completely relaxed and Reece clenched one fist to show his determination. "Plus I'm the best at trapping animals." They seemed to be really fired up about this...

"But the poor animals!" Panini protested and Jason joined in. "Y-yes! A-and d-don't y-you th-think this is r-really di-disrespectful t-towards the d-d-dead?"

"I don't see why," Artyom answered honestly while Marilyn just shrugged. "I think that's quite another cup of tea. Count me in on that, boys." I guessed that your point of view on that really depended on the way you grew up.

Daichi just took some notes and said casually "Do as you please." Artyom looked satisfied by this and added "I also told Tani about this." "What did she say?" Ari wanted to know and Artyom answered "If there is some kind of river we should leave the fish to her."

Panini looked at me with pleading eyes. "Lewis, say something! They can't just kill innocent animals! That's horrible!" "Look, that is what their Ultimate Talents are about," I tried to argue. "I don't want to stop them from using them. You wouldn't want to give up painting either, or would you?" If they were hunting animals they would at least not hurt anyone else. And it was probably the best way for them to cope with this situation. "But that's something completely different," Panini protested.

"The bet is not exactly about killing them, right?" Akira asked. "Catching them alive would be enough?" Artyom shrugged. "We don't want to extinguish them after all. But clean shots are much easier. Also, I don't know how Monokuma keeps the population under control here. The fact that we could see so many animals already at the brink of the forest is a sign that they don't have enough space to live. Killing some of them would probably be the best thing to do."

"But if catching them alive is enough than you could win the bet without killing a single one," Akira concluded, looking at Panini who needed a moment to understand. "Does that mean I can protect them?" she asked and I encouraged her "You can definitely win the bet if you try." If she would actually do that she would probably get a better feeling, the feeling that she really saved someone. If we would be doing this the right way, it could also help her not to get a breakdown after every shot she heard.

"I w-would l-love to h-help you with it," Jason offered. Either he really wanted to protect some animals or he just wanted to help Panini. I thought that she would be safe with the gentle boy and so I used the opportunity to speak to Artyom.

He went outside as soon as we finished breakfast and I followed him quickly. "Can I help you with something?" he asked friendly and yet I had the feeling he didn't really want to have me around. "Oh no, I just wanted to see what you were doing," I explained. "I never really had the chance to get to know you better."

"I like tranquillity," Artyom told me. "Just me and my rifle out there. No offence, but you talk too much."

I watched him attentively and noticed once more how different we were. He was dark, athletic, even with a scar showing beneath his rolled up sleeve. It was easy to imagine how he grew up in the woods, becoming a better hunter with every passing day. That sounded like such an exciting childhood that I felt a bit envious.

"I guess, it is part of my talent," I replied with a smile. "I wonder how it is to use a rifle?" "Relaxing," Artyom said, pulling a large knife out of his pocket as well as a sharpening steel and while he continued to talk he casually started grinding the weapon. "You only focus on the weapon in your hand and on your prey, waiting for exactly the right moment."

That sounded like you would need a lot of patience and concentration for it. "Was it difficult to learn?" I asked curiously and Artyom grinned. "I was nine years old when I had my first hunt and it wasn't difficult for me. Guess, that's why I am an Ultimate." So he really spent half his life with hunting.

By now he had finished grinding his knife and after a closer look on it he commented "Should be perfect for skinning now." "You're also skinning your prey?" I asked and he looked a bit surprised about that question. "I don't kill just for fun. And if you want to use the fur or the meat of an animal you need to skin it. Do you want so see?" "Not necessarily," I objected, making him grin once more.

"I wouldn't mind skinning Monokuma," Artyom mused. "Tani told me that kuma is the Japanese word for bear. And bears always have top priority on my hunting list." "Don't get too reckless," I warned him absently while thinking about what he just said. Were our kidnappers Japanese then? But why would people from Japan kidnap students from England? I still had no idea why all of this happened.

I tried to focus on Artyom again, asking "Why are bears on your priority list?" But apparently the hunter decided that he had answered enough questions for one day. "If you ever saw a bear attack you would want to kill them all as well," he just said, leaving me with more questions. "I will look for the most fitting rifle now," he told me, already walking away. "After all I've got a bet to win!"

By now I wondered if this bet had been a good idea. Well, at least it made the others forget a bit about our situation.

Thinking about the others I noticed how much progress some of them had made. Tani had actually talked to me and remembering our breakfast I thought that Jason had grown in confidence. He wasn't just there, he actually spoke up. Reece proved that he was someone who would jump into a turbulent water for you and Vivienne also proved that she didn't think just about herself.

Maybe it was time for me to move on a bit as well. So far I had always been avoiding Ari although I knew fears wouldn't heal if you just tried to lock them away.

And so I actually knocked on Ari's door. He opened up quickly and looked a bit surprised to see me. "Hoped it would be one of the girls," he said with a relaxed grin. "Well, whatever, come in."

"How is your head?" I asked, carefully looking around. The room was a mess, I guessed that Ari was simply too lazy for cleaning up. "It's alright," he replied to my question. "There are worse things than getting knocked down by a hot girl. While we're at it… do you know how Vivi is doing?"

"Unfortunately not. Of course she needs some time." And regarding Vivienne's personality I could imagine that she needed a lot of time.

Ari sighed. "Poor girl. Well, I guess, I ruined my chances with her." He actually seemed a bit down about that. I guessed that he usually was quite popular with the girls. For a guy he was quite good looking and girls probably liked both his relaxed attitude and the sense of danger around him. Yet here he had no luck since Tani seemed to be just annoyed by him, Vivienne told him that she wished he had died, Panini was too innocent for him and Marilyn seemed to care as much about love as a dead fish.

I shrugged and changed the topic. "What are you doing there?" It looked like he was preparing something but I couldn't really tell what it was until he grinned and said "I'm making new bombs."

Ultimate Explosive Expert, of course… "What for?" I asked and his expression became a bit more determined. "I'll win this bet! And bombs are always good for winning!" Slowly I got a bad feeling about this thing. But now it was too late to stop everything.

"I really wondered how you found your talent," I said carefully. "It is not very common, I would say." _Who the hell would like spending his entire time with bombs and fire?!_

"Imagine this," Ari said, gazing into the distance with a somehow dreamy expression. "You're wandering along a road in the evening and then suddenly you see a burning house. Imagine how warm it is. Imagine how beautiful the dancing flames are. They are like life itself, wild, colourful, unpredictable. And barely anything is greater than being able to summon them yourself." By now, I was even more convinced that he was just crazy.

Ari shrugged as if he had read my thoughts. "Always loved chemistry class. And yeah, I got into some trouble but you know, no risk, no fun." And with that he switched on his lighter once more, tenderly watching the flame.

I decided that I had proved my goodwill by now and could leave this maniac again. Whatever he said, fire was still nothing but dangerous.

 **I have no idea why, but this chapter took a while.**

 **Anyway, reviews would be very much appreciated.**


	45. Hunting Special

**Thanks a lot for the reviews!**

 **I'm not sure if this chapter really is a Special... but I wanted to call it so, so enjoy this new little Special!**

The next morning only Daichi and Akira were in the dining room, sipping some tea and looking totally relaxed. "Where is everyone?" I asked in confusion and Daichi explained shortly how the others had left early to win this bet. "You aren't interested to win it?" I asked, making both of them shake their heads.

"I do not even like woods," Akira said. "I let the others have their fun and try this new video game I found."

"It is interesting to see how others try to achieve victory," Daichi explained himself calmly. "But I don't see a reason why I should try it. It is just a simple bet after all. They do not even have a stake as far as I know."

He was right about that which made it only more interesting. They were so determined about something so trivial, it was truly amazing to watch. And so I decided to got to the forest myself and see how they were doing.

Reece wasn't very hard to find as he was leaning against a tree at the edge of the forest, studying a sketch in his hands and drinking a coke he had brought with him. "You didn't already give up, did you?" I asked and he eagerly shook his head. "I've just started! You should better watch where you're going because I just set a hundred traps!" I honestly hoped that this was just an exaggeration.

"Artyom thinks he'll win because of his shooting skills," Reece said. "But he forgets who survived several years because of his great trapping skills!"

Suddenly he dodged and while I was still surprised something hit the tree next to me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a knife sticking into the wood, barely an inch away from my shoulder. With another knife in her hand Marilyn approached us, smiling enthusiastically. "You better don't forget about me in this," she told us and Reece grinned.

"I guess you all are just going for the big animals," he claimed. "But no one will catch us many small rodents as I can!" "Small, yes, that is fitting you," Marilyn smirked and Reece just shook his head. "It's not like you're taller than me."

"That's true," Marilyn replied. "But I'm stronger and faster and have an amazing knowledge! You may call me Marilyn, the Great!" She laughed and they kept on bickering so I rather went away, carefully watching the ground for Reece's traps. In the distance I could hear something explode, followed by the alarmed calls of some birds. Ari was definitely somewhere here...

Before I could even wonder where I should go another knife came flying in my direction. "Careful, careful," I said and Marilyn smiled at me as she got her knife back. "Don't you worry, I make sure that I won't hit you. After all I don't want to lose my title."

"You aren't worried about Reece?" I asked and she just laughed. "He and his cute little traps? I simply crush these rodents with my boots. As if he'd be a threat for me!"

"So, I guess you don't need help?" I said and she suddenly grabbed my wrist, gripping it so firmly that it almost hurt. If only she tightened her grip a bit more she would easily break my wrist. "Does this feel like I would need help?" she asked but it sounded rather amused than angry. "No," I said with an apologizing smile and she let go of me again.

"Sorry if I hurt you," she told me cheerfully. "Well, I have to get to work now! Don't end up as prey!" And with that she rushed away, her plait swinging behind her like a weapon. She wasn't exactly like I had imagined a Historian to be but at least she was having some fun again.

There was another explosion somewhere and I decided to walk towards it, just to make sure that Ari wouldn't set the forest on fire. Thinking about it I could imagine that very easily and so I fastened my pace until I found him.

He had piled some bodies and it looked like his method was quite successful even though it was a bit disturbing at the same time. "How is it going?" I asked and he grinned. "I was thinking about laying mines here. It would be even more effective, don't you think?"

"Have you gone mad?!" I asked back. "What if someone of us steps on one?" His grin didn't vanish. "Relax, mate, everything's fine. I'll be careful." I couldn't really believe this but I just had to hope he had been joking. Still, I decided to go as far away from him as possible.

Wandering through the forest like this I suddenly heard someone call my name and walked towards the voice. Panini and Jason had brought a lot of food animals could like with them and tried to bait animals with them now, though with not much success as it looked. "We brought all this yummy stuff here," Panini told me. "That's much better than guns or traps."

"A-and when w-we c-catch an animal we can bring it out o-of the f-forest," Jason added. "But we could need some help," Panini said, looking at me with a pleading expression. "You know it is a lot of work to lure them and catch them and get them out of the forest. So maybe you could help us?"

As if trying to lure an animal wasn't stupid enough in the first place, also carrying them all the way out of the forest?! As much as I liked Panini, this was just too much!

"Wouldn't that be unfair?" I asked. "You two are already working together and the others are all on their own. We should keep this bet fair, shouldn't we?" Panini looked a bit disappointed but not as heartbroken as she had been before. "Okay. But we will win the bet, you'll see!" "I'm sure of it," I smiled.

Maybe now was a good time for me to leave here. Just when I was coming closer to the edge of the forest, I noticed a doe crossing my way. It was slightly limping and after a loud gunshot it finally collapsed. Artyom appeared right after it, his rifle casually over his shoulder. "It had an injured leg," he told me with a content expression. "Guess, I was doing it a favour."

"It is going well for you?" I asked and he nodded. "A huge lot of deer here, that's perfect. Hunting deer is the best after all."

"What did I just hear?" a familiar annoying voice asked and all of a sudden Monokuma appeared behind a tree. "Deer is your favourite? Well, that's just perfect! Because we have a totally majestic white deer here!" And suddenly his voice was resounding through the entire forest, scaring up even the last animal. He must have installed loudspeakers in advance here.

"Ahem, attention everyone! Whoever catches the White Deer is going to receive a special reward! Upupupupupu..." What was he planning now? Or was he just enjoying the show?

"All right then." Artyom softly patted his rifle before he made his way back into the heart of the forest. "That reward is mine!"

"This is interesting now," I could hear a voice next to me and as I turned around I could see Daichi standing there. "I guess you also watched the others?"

I nodded and suggested with a smile "Should we make a bet ourselves? About the winner?" Daichi agreed. "Who do you think will win then?"

I gave it a moment of thought before I replied "Ari. For me it is hard to predict what he will do but I am certain that he would rather demolish everything than lose a bet. Artyom may be talented but I guess he would take his time while Ari would just act.

Reece is only good at catching rodents so he won't stand a chance against them and Marilyn isn't serious enough about it. And I doubt Panini and Jason could intervene when four others are trying to kill this deer."

Daichi nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I agree on the others but I think Artyom would prevail against Ari. Not only because he has specialised himself in deer hunting he also has a tranquillity that would always win over an over-hasty action."

We shook our hands to confirm our bet and then quickly left the forest before someone could mistake us for a deer…..

Panini knew that the others were out for blood now and she also knew that she had to protect the poor deer. "Wh-what should we d-do?" Jason asked nervously and Panini touched her lips with her index finger as she thought about it. She smiled as something came to her mind. "If it's white it must be really easy to see!"

"B-but then the o-others w-will see it very easily, t-too," Jason said and Panini just clapped her hands. "Yes, but we will bring it some goodies and then it will come running towards us and if we hug it quick enough the others won't dare to shoot!" Jason didn't look really convinced but like a good side-kick he agreed to follow the plan and so they decided which treats would probably be the best for a deer.

Wandering through the forest Panini was looking left and right for something white and so she didn't notice the hidden rope on the ground. Suddenly she felt something twining itself around her ankle and the next moment she was lifted into the air. Panini screamed as the world suddenly turned around and she was dangling in the air.

"Panini!" Jason yelled, quickly coming nearer and watching the structure of the trap more closely. "Can you let me down?" the girl asked fearfully. "I w-will t-try," Jason stammered, trying to loose a knot of the rope. And suddenly the rope got loose, making Panini scream once again as she was falling down.

She hit the ground and rolled around, her hand touching something and her blue eyes widened a bit as she heard a soft 'click'. The next moment something nearby exploded, making both students get onto the ground and cover their ears.

Artyom had been waiting for the perfect moment ever since he spotted the deer. This was his prey and he would never let it go again, it was just like in the good old days at home. The beautiful white animal was wandering through the forest as if it had no idea that it was hunted. Artyom's finger was already on the trigger when suddenly there was an explosion and in his surprise he missed his target about some inches, hitting a near tree instead.

Reece had climbed on this very tree, waiting for the deer to come here and activate a trap he had installed just for it. Though he never even tried to catch a deer before he was certain that his trap would work. Unfortunately the loud gunshot made the deer run into the opposite direction while the branch he had climbed on started shaking. Unable to keep his balance Reece fell down, crashing right into Marilyn who was just about to run after the deer. Both of them went down and Marilyn, certain that a wild animal had just attacked her, quickly kicked Reece with all her strength, making the unfortunate boy collapse once more.

And so the White Deer happily escaped.


	46. For the sake of health: Chapter IV

**Christmas time really had me busy but at least I managed to get the new chapter finished this year. It's a bit short but I still hope you like it.**

 **And from wherever you're reading this: A happy new year to all of you!**

 **And thanks for the reviews, guys, I'm glad you liked my special!**

"So, that's really what happened." I could see a spark of amusement in Tani's dark blue eyes. "And I thought Artyom had joked." Apparently he had already told her what had happened to the bet but she didn't get annoyed to hear from another perspective. Her stay in the hospital was probably so boring that she didn't mind some conversation once in a while. I was more than glad that I didn't have to stay here.

I really would have liked to talk a bit more to Tani but this moment Artyom came in and for a moment the three of us just looked at each other, everyone not sure what to say. Finally I said "Well, see you two later" and left the room.

Outside it was sunny as ever, so I actually enjoyed my walk back to the hostel. Yesterday had definitely ended differently than I had expected it. No one had brought this deer with him but Jason had tried to comfort a crying Panini and Marilyn had to carry Reece out of the forest.

We had gathered in the living room and while I tried to convince Panini that she hadn't really turned deaf, the others told the story. It looked like everyone was sure that they had almost caught the deer and claimed that the reward should be theirs. But Monokuma didn't show up which meant that he didn't see anyone as the winner.

"Congratulations, Reece," Akira had commented with a smile. "You have caught a wild Panini." "Yeah, sorry about that," Reece groaned, still holding his aching stomach. I guessed he could be glad that Marilyn had kicked him nowhere else.

"M-maybe we should be m-more c-careful from n-now on?" Jason suggested and though the others hesitated finally everyone agreed on that though some seemed more serious about it than others. Still the memory made me smile, they seemed to enjoy the competition without getting too serious about it.

"Lewis!" Panini came running towards me and then suddenly stopped as if she wasn't sure if she could expect a hug when she was not crying. "You're feeling better now?" I asked with a friendly smile and she quickly returned it. "Oh, yes. You were right, my ears got better, too! But everyone's still talking about catching the poor deer."

At least it looked like she had recovered a bit from her depression over Tokaku's betrayal. "Ah, don't worry," I said. "This deer is a smart one, they won't catch it so easily." Panini thought about it for a moment then she said "Jason told me about the comic he had made… for Tokaku. And… maybe he would like to make some more… about all of us would be funny, right? Or about the brave deer."

"Would you like to help him out?" I asked. "Since you're such a talented artist." Panini clapped her hands. "Oh, I love cartoons! Together we could create the greatest comics! You can help us, too, right? With thinking about stories and stuff." She looked happy as she was talking about this but under the surface I could still see the sadness in her and I hoped that it would vanish some day.

"Sure," I replied. "But I'm afraid I won't have many good ideas." "That doesn't matter," Panini said quickly. "I'm happy as long as we can spend time together. Um, can I...invite you to some drink?"

Somehow this felt weird coming from her as she definitely wasn't in the age to drink yet. "You know I really liked this little tavern. And I thought maybe you and me…." She started babbling as she got nervous that I would refuse.

"We can go there if you'd like to," I replied. "But don't you think it is a bit early for drinking?"

Panini looked a bit confused and checked the clock on her handbook. "Oh, so it isn't tea time yet? I'm sorry, I don't know so well about that." So she was just talking about tea… "No, it is fine," I quickly said. "Drinking tea together sounds fine."

Her nervous expression made way for a relieved smile and grabbing my hand she headed towards the tavern. Here my handbook was really useful as I could study the way we had to go. So I noticed that the tavern wasn't empty, Vivienne was there as well. This was a surprise as she hadn't left her room for a long time.

Knowing how sensitive Panini was I wondered if I should tell her. Maybe then she would change her plan and I actually really wanted to see Vivienne. Plus I knew that Panini still felt guilty about Vivienne's depression and it would be the best if she learnt that nothing was her fault.

"Do you have siblings?" I asked her as we were wandering towards the tavern. "Big families must be fun," she said thoughtfully. "But no, I don't." I honestly wondered how her life had been before all of this happened. Had she been popular, always surrounded by lots of friends? Or had she rather been a dreamer, always in her own world? Her talent had made her different from all the others, I just couldn't imagine her being just a face in a crowd. Just like all of the Hope's Peak students she must have stood out.

Yet as we entered the tavern I immediately forgot all my thoughts about Panini's past. Vivienne was here indeed, leaning against the wall she was sitting on the little stage, her eyes closed. Blood was dripping down her wrists and I quickly saw that they had been cut.

With a scream Panini rushed to the stage, almost stumbling and falling down. I followed her quickly and both of us knelt down next to Vivienne who slowly blinked. "Oh my...Vivi!" Panini was crying as the other girl seemed to look trough us with glazed eyes.

I was already taking off my tie and together with it, Panini's scrunchies and Vivienne's scarf I managed to create some kind of pressure bandage for her arms. As I was sure that the bleeding had stopped I carefully touched her hand and asked softly "Why did you do this?"

She just closed her eyes again. "This is where we sung together," she murmured. "It had been a happy time." Panini cried even harder now as she hugged Vivienne now. "I am so sorry! I never wanted this to happen! It's all my fault, Vivi! But I don't want you to die, so please, please stay with us!"

For me it looked pretty obvious that Vivienne didn't really want to die, no matter how much she grieved about Tokaku's death. Coming here where everyone could find her instead of staying in her room where she actually could lock herself in? Especially when she had her handbook with her so everyone who checked could find her? And if she really wanted to die, why bother slashing her wrists when she could easily shoot herself? Real determination looked different.

I guessed that Vivienne needed some attention, after Tokaku had left her she must have felt terribly lonely. But she wasn't the kind of girl who would just come and ask for help, she would do something more dramatic.

Now that Panini was holding her tight and crying for her, I could see the tears in Vivienne's eyes. She probably felt to weak to hug the other girl back but she rested her head on Panini's shoulder and cried quietly. I felt a bit out of place here but I was certainly happy that they got closer again.

Just then Monokuma appeared, chuckling slightly and looking at us with insidious eyes. "My, my, now that's such a moving, tearful moment!"

"Would you tell us why you're here?" I asked politely and he shook his head. "Let's wait for the others to come, alright?" His words were followed by a Monokuma announcement, telling everyone to gather in the tavern.

While we were waiting we tried to ignore the bear who was skipping a rope, showing that someone had been a very talented programmer.

Panini kept kneeling next to Vivienne, almost defiantly holding onto her as if she wanted to protect her. The blonde just hung her head and stared to the ground. I was wondering if I should clean up the blood on the stage but finally decided not to.

One after another the other appeared. "What happened?" Ari asked with a slight frown as he noticed the state Vivienne was in. But now we didn't have the time to explain anything as Monokuma finally told us why he had us gathered here.

"It is time for a new motive, isn't it? And I felt like being generous and give to a time limit of three days. Of course I can't force you to kill but if no one is dead in three days I will randomly decide who will be executed." He chuckled happily. "Who will it be? The oldest?" Daichi just crossed his arms. "Or the youngest?" Akira just stared back to the bear. "A boy? A girl? We will see! Unless… you kill first! Upupupupupu…."


	47. For the sake of health: Chapter V

**Oh my… Sorry that this took me so long now!**

 **Anyway thanks for the reviews and I hope this chapter is long enough to make up for the delay!**

Even after Monokuma had disappeared again we just stood there in a shocked silence. This wasn't a motive we could just forget about – if no one killed, someone of us would die anyway.

Panini was the first to burst into tears as the entire situation was too much for her. "That's not fair!" she protested. "No one should die anymore! Monokuma just can't do that!"

"Crying won't get us anywhere here," Daichi said calmly. "We should try to overcome this situation."

"And how?" Reece asked angrily. "Do you say we should just wait until we're all getting killed of?!"

It looked like we had to decide if we wanted to stay friends and die one after another or if we should make sacrifices so some of us could survive. It actually wasn't a choice I wanted to make.

"Of course not," Daichi said now. "We have three days until Monokuma takes action. We should better use them to find more information about where we are here and how we can get out. After all this should be our greatest priority. Monokuma won't ever let us go again and I'm sure he will supply us with more and more motives to make our life a living hell. That's why we should finally focus on what's truly important and find a way out of here."

After his little speech everyone was silent, even Panini stopped crying for a moment. Then Marilyn slapped Daichi on the back and nodded determined. "He's right! Let's do it!"

"I'll go and inform Tani about it," Artyom said and quickly left the tavern. Akira promised that he would try hacking into Monokuma's system to maybe find a way how to control the fences and the others split up to look for possible clues.

Finally only Panini, Vivienne, Jason and me were left. The tall boy hesitated for a moment before he nervously asked "C-can I h-help?" He was considerate as always.

Together we made our way back to the hostel, Jason was carrying Vivienne who had just closed her eyes and looked just like a fragile doll. I knew that the worst thing we could do now was leaving her alone and so I sent Jason with her while I brought Panini to her room. She was still trembling a bit as she sat down on her bed and looked at me with big fearful eyes. "Vivi will be fine again, right?" she asked quietly and I nodded with an encouraging smile. "It will help her when you spend time with her."

It really would be the best for Vivienne but it would also help Panini if she had a task she could easily fulfil. Indeed she looked a bit better after that but asked "We will get out of here, right? Daichi said so..."

"I am certain of it," I reassured her and finally she smiled a bit. Yet I knew that it wasn't her usual bright beam.

This evening I checked on Vivienne before going to sleep. She was just laying on her bed, still wearing the improvised bandages on her arms, and starring at the ceiling with wide eyes. Seeing her like that I could barely imagine anymore the diva-like-girl she used to be.

"How are you?" I asked softly, sitting next to her. It was important to give her enough space to feel comfortable and still be close enough so she could see she wasn't alone.

"Thank you for saving me," she murmured. "Even after all those things I said..."

"I would never let you die," I replied seriously. "You know I'm there for you if you let me?"

Vivienne turned her head a bit to look at me. "But what about Panini?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I will be there for her as well. But why should that keep me from spending time with others? Panini is very important to me, but so are you. And I know Panini wants to be there for you, too."

Vivienne bit her lip to keep herself from crying and nodded slowly. "I still can't believe Tokaku did that," she whispered. "It all feels so unreal to me." Finally she grabbed my hand and confessed "I was so scared! I thought no one would come to save me!"

There was so much fear in her eyes, so much despair. I gently hold her hand in mine and said "That wouldn't happen, Vivienne. We are your friends. And friends won't let each other down."

The next morning we came together for breakfast, again only Tani and Vivienne were missing. "How is she?" Ari asked me about the blond girl and I reassured him that she would be better soon. Indeed her injuries weren't as bad as they had looked at first sight and I hoped that she would mentally recover if we only spend more time with her to show that we actually cared about her well-being.

The others were discussing what they had found yesterday but apparently no one had been successful. "I'm still trying my best," Akira tried to keep us hoping, but he was yawning and the rings under his eyes were even darker than usual.

And so we all went searching again except for Panini who was spending time with Vivienne, Artyom who visited Tani once more and Akira who was busy in his room. I heard that Jason had helped him to bring some equipment from the electronic devices shop.

Now the tall boy had went away together with Marilyn to search all the borders of our territory. I had also seen Reece and Ari talking about something together, probably making new plans for the search.

And so Daichi approached me, asking if we could look out for clues together. I was a bit surprised by that but agreed immediately. To my surprise we were wandering into the direction of the hospital and I was about to ask if he thought that there could be any clues as he wanted to know "How far would you go to get out of here?"

This question took me by surprise. Finally I decided to give him an honest answer. "Actually I don't really want to get out of here. Despite everything that happened I love this place. Everyone important to me is here and we can just spend time together."

"Only that we have to kill each other," Daichi added and I shook my head. "Yes, that's unfortunate. I don't know how we can get round that but if only we could all live together here peacefully...it would be a dream come true."

"What about your family and friends outside of this?" Daichi asked with this observant look of him and I asked back "Well, what about you? Who are you missing? You said you have a sister?"

"Indeed, a twin sister," he nodded and maybe it was my imagination but I had the feeling that his expression darkened a little bit. "And two older brothers. Yet it doesn't matter for me if there is someone waiting for me outside of this or not. I have no intention in spending the rest of my life here without knowing what the reason for all of this is. Actually, Lewis, I wanted to know if I can trust you."

"Why, of course you can!" I said, flashing him a smile. "Of course you would say that," Daichi commented and after a moment of hesitation he finally told me "I found something in the hospital."

So that was what he wanted to show me. Judging his tone it wasn't a clue but something he actually didn't want the others to find.

Most of the rooms in the hospital were abandoned and slowly decaying but there was a very well hidden one which looked slightly less bad. There was a little table with a scratched top and a small cupboard in one corner of the room. Daichi opened it for me and I could see all the tins and packets in it, most of them marked with a skull-symbol to show that they were poisonous.

"I checked but none of the tins had been opened before," Daichi told me calmly. "Yet I don't want anyone to find this and get ideas." If there had been one or two tins it would have been easy to just hide them but there were way too many for that. I could easily understand his worries. "Have you told anyone else about it?" I asked and he nodded. "Just Jason. He appears to be the most trustworthy here.

Anyway, I thought of something to make sure no one takes one of the tins. I counted all of them and made a list. If one of us, you, me or Jason, would stay here and stand guard we could make sure that no one secretly gets here and takes one. We could take turns every two hours, so it wouldn't be just one doing it. And if we check the tins before we start the guard we can make sure that none of them were taken away during the other's shift."

He looked at me, waiting, and I had the feeling that I could only agree here as he apparently already planned everything out. "I think, that's a good plan," I said.

Daichi checked the clock on his handbook and nodded. "All right. I will be here for the next two hours. Can you take turn after that?"

I nodded and so I left the hospital without him.

Somehow I had to pass these two hours and I wanted to be as useful as possible. I didn't really care where we were or how we could escape from here, I was much more curious about who was behind Monokuma. If we knew who this person was and what he actually really wanted, maybe we could somehow defeat him.

I checked if Panini and Vivienne were all right and found them reading the little comic book from Jason about Takako, the Super Heroine.

Deciding that I could leave them like that I went to the storage room once more and started searching it without finding anything new and useful.

This wasn't really an experiment if we would actually kill. Monokuma was sure that we would kill if he wanted us to. Still he didn't just wanted us to die, if that had been the case he could have easily killed us all. Also then he wouldn't have made the rule that you could only kill two people. And thinking about it I remembered that he had suddenly helped us out a bit during Ammy's trial as if he hadn't wanted us all to die there.

He didn't just want us all to die. But what else was his goal? To see us all despair? Thinking about it, he mentioned this word quite often. But did this make sense?

Monokuma was a sadist but how did he get the power to trap us all in here without anyone getting to know about it? Was there an entire group behind Monokuma? And why did they decide to kidnap students from a famous school instead of some street kids no one would miss?

I still hadn't come to a good solution as I went back to the hospital room and met with Daichi. "Nothing happened," he told me calmly. "No one even came here. Not even the Monokuma nurses."

Still I checked on all the tins although I highly doubted Daichi would have been so stupid to take any away after telling me about it. Now I would have to stay here for the next two hours until Jason would come and take turns. We weren't sure what to do about Nighttime yet but it still was a long time until then.

I tried to think more about Monokuma but it somehow bothered me that there was no one I could talk to or anything I could search. Why wasn't there anything in this room?

For a few minutes I looked outside of the window but there wasn't much to see either and so I scribbled a bit on the table top before I started walking in circles. Every few seconds I checked the clock but the time seemed to pass by especially slowly. Somehow I actually wished for someone to come here, just so something would happen. This was so boring, so extremely boring, so terribly horribly boring!

Just then I felt a weird pain at my neck before everything started to blur.

"... not waking up." "Please, no!" I could hear some distant voices somewhere while some weight was lasting on my body and my head felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton. And someone was constantly saying my name, it was almost annoying.

Somehow I managed to open my eyes and the first thing I saw was Panini's face. Her terrified expression quickly turned into a relieved one and sobbing some words she threw her entire body weight on me, making my vision start blurring once more.

"Panini, you're smothering him," I could hear someone say and the girl quickly let go of me again. "I'm sorry!" she cried, still holding onto me. "I thought you were dead! I was so sure!"

I was too confused to even reply to that. Why should I be dead? And where was I in the first place? This was not my room. Looking around I spotted Marilyn and Jason next to Panini, both of them watching me with a somehow worried expression. What was going on here? And why was I feeling so weird?

"D-did I miss Monokuma's Morning Announcement?" I finally asked and Marilyn replied softly "It's afternoon." Then she added "Don't you remember what happened?"

"No," I replied confused and saw Panini's eyes widen. "You lost your memories?" she said. "Well, I am Panini Chao, the Ultimate Artist!" She also wanted to introduce the others but I interrupted her. "It's fine, Panini, I know who you are."

This was too weird, was I even awake? I honestly wasn't sure if this wasn't some dream and wondered if I should just go back to sleep.

Jason had gone to some cupboard meanwhile and said now "W-well, th-the cans are still f-full." "That's good," Marilyn said relieved and then asked "Lewis, you don't know what happened here?" I just shook my head and before anyone could explain anything we heard something like a loud explosion.

"What was that?" Panini asked wide-eyed and grabbed my arm. "You two stay here with him," Marilyn ordered and rushed out of the room.

I sat up while Panini started trembling once more and Jason stood next to us with a sorrowful expression. So we waited and I tried to collect my memories. "M-m-maybe I should g-go and s-see what ha-happened," Jason finally said after Marilyn still hadn't returned. "No, please don't!" Panini said fearfully.

Just then we could hear a familiar hated voice. "Congratulations! A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, the Class Trial will begin!"

 **So, who is the victim? While I try to be a bit faster this time you can wonder about that…**

 **As always, reviews would be very much appreciated. ^^**


	48. For the sake of health: Chapter VI

**First of all, I am very sorry that I didn't write for such a long time now. I won't bother you with all my reasons but I have to admit that at the moment I'm focussing more on other stories. Still I hope that I can continue this story now without any more long breaks.**

 **Anyway, here we go again. ^^**

Quickly Jason had offered me a hand and pulled me back to my feet. Without another word the three of us hurried out of the room and upstairs, just to find some other students already standing in front of the room Tani had stayed in.

"Damn it, why?!" I could hear Reece scream as he angrily punched the wall. Daichi was much more calmer, he just turned around and eyed us observantly. Just then Marilyn left the room, exhaustedly wiping a strand of hair out of her face. "It's no help," she said calmly but with hidden anger in her voice. It was obvious to see how much another death exhausted her.

"W-w-w-who?" Jason stammered wide-eyed but before anyone could answer we heard quickly approaching steps and Artyom stormed towards us. "Tani?" he asked, holding his breath as if he was preparing himself for the worst.

"It's not her," Marilyn simply replied and stepped aside so we all could take a look into the room. Lifelessly lying on the ground, the lapis blue eyes closed for good, was Ari or rather what remained of the boy. Artyom swore under his breath while Panini just closed her eyes and carefully hugged me.

Almost automatically I took out my handbook and checked the Monokuma file for new information. _The victim is_ _Ari Matsumoto_ _. The time of death was around_ _4_ _p_ _m._ _Besides several injuries the victim got poisoned which resulted in death._

I thought back to the secret hospital room, clearly the murderer must have got the poison from there. But how was that possible when none of the cans had been opened before and neither was one of them missing?

Also I was wondering about the _several injuries_ as well as _around 4 pm_. Those information were surprisingly vague as if Monokuma didn't want us to be sure about something. Or was it just my imagination? I checked the time and noticed that it was already a quarter to five. At least we could assume that Ari had already been dead when the explosion happened. That made me wonder...why had there been an explosion in the first place?

We didn't have to wait for long until the rest of the students approached at the scene of crime. Akira looked mostly tired as if he couldn't bear all of this anymore, while Tani closed her eyes in sadness. Vivienne just stared at the dead body, the shock clearly written on her face. Finally she had refrained from killing herself and now she was confronted with another corpse.

I wanted to talk to her but she just bit her lip, turned around and fled from the scene. Before I could do anything Daichi already ordered Jason and Marilyn to guard the scene of the crime and approached me. "We need to talk," he said with a glance to Panini who still clung to me. "I won't let go," she proclaimed and I asked "It wouldn't be a problem if Panini stays, right?"

"I guess so," Daichi answered calmly. "I wanted to know what happened to you. We have to assume that the murderer got the poison from the very room we tried to protect, most probably while you were there. So?"

I told him what I could remember which was basically nothing. Then I added that Jason checked the cans but none of them had been opened before and of course none of them were missing either.

"I see," Daichi said, taking some notes. "Is it possible you just passed out without anyone else having something to do with it?"

"I don't think so." I smiled carefully. "This never happened to me before." Daichi seemed to think about that and then finally looked up, eyeing both of us observantly. "Then there is something I don't understand. Obviously someone wanted you out of the way and somehow knocked you out. Yet they didn't steal anything nor killed or even hurt you. Why could that be?"

"Lewis is innocent!" Panini quickly claimed, flashing her eyes at the black-haired boy who didn't even blink. "How did you find him?" he wanted to know.

"I, um..." Panini looked a bit insecure here. "I was actually looking for Lewis. And then I met Jason at the hospital. He and Marilyn had been together, I think… Because he then told me that I should come with him because something had happened and Marilyn were waiting. He was really nervous and I was already so afraid because of his behaviour and when we came to this room… I really thought you were dead!" She hugged me again as if to make sure I really was alive and I softly patted her head.

"I see," was all Daichi said before he left us to interrogate someone else.

"We should better check the cans once more," I said and while we were going back to the secret room I told Panini everything we knew about the hidden poison. Her eyes widened in sudden shock and she asked "You're not poisoned, right? You won't die soon, right?"

That was a somehow disturbing thought as we couldn't be sure how quick the poison worked. Still I couldn't imagine dying so soon and I didn't even want to think about it. "I'm fine," I reassured Panini and watched her more closely. "You're being quite brave," I said, remembering how shocked she had been during the last trials. Yet this time she was calmer as if she could deal with the problem. "I'm just so glad you're okay," she replied, leaning her head against my shoulder. "And Vivi is, too," she added after a moment.

The Panini I knew would have cried for everyone. I noticed with worry that apparently the situation was wearing her out. But as long as she was alive she could always recover from it, I was sure about that. And for now she had to find her own way how to deal with the situation.

We entered the secret room and I saw for myself that Jason had been right. All of the cans were standing there, all of them still unopened. This certainly was strange...

As we returned to the scene of the crime the others had already left, only Jason and Marilyn were still looking around and I asked them if they had found anything interesting yet. Clearly the explosion we heard earlier must have been in this room, one half of it was completely destroyed, the walls were soot-blackened and partly crumbled down. The bed was nothing more but a broken frame, the little night table had fallen to its side, some medication were scattered next to it. Looking more closely I even spotted some parts that looked like robot limbs, probably from one of the Monokuma-nurses, I thought to myself.

Marilyn waved with something that looked like a torn up piece of some kind of bag. "I found this," she said and her expression darkened a bit. "I think it could be from Ari's backpack." Apparently this was all that was left of it after the explosion.

"A-and I found th-this," Jason stammered, showing us a sheet of paper. "N-next to the c-c-c-corpse." Parts of the paper were burnt away but we still could read a little note written in a truly terrible handwriting. "...friends….situation I decided….kill myself….bastard or….we will meet again...then, goodbye..."

"No way!" Marilyn said, holding the letter closer to her eyes. "Is this a suicide-note?"

I looked down at Ari's body, for the first time watching it more carefully. He looked pale, the usual relaxed grin had vanished, instead I could still find some pain in his expression. What our handbook had called _several injuries_ were ugly burns, covering one half of him. Also the arm on his good side was for some reason covered in bandages and unnaturally twisted.

"Poor Ari," Panini whispered, holding me closer. Silently I patted her head, wondering what exactly had happened here. "Does anyone know about his arm?" I asked but all of the others just shrugged and I decided to find someone else who could maybe answer my question.

Finally we left the hospital and made our way back to the hostel. Right in front of it we spotted two figures and I approached them with some questions.

Tani still wore some bandages and for the first time I really noticed how thin she had become. Despite her usually rather aloof attitude he was now leaning on Artyom as if it was too exhausting to even stand on her own feet. "Are you all right?" I asked and she just nodded without even a sharp comment.

"When did you leave the hospital?" I wanted to know and she told me "When Ari was taken in. I was really tired of stayin' in the hospital all the time. So I left and he could get my room." "Did he have some kind of accident?" Artyom asked confused but Tani just shrugged and then grimaced as it hurt. "Dunno. He was hurt but I didn't ask what happened." This could be interesting, I should probably find someone who knew more about it.

"That was the last time you saw him?" I wanted to know and as she nodded I turned towards Artyom. "I didn't know he was at the hospital," he told me. "I last saw him this morning. He asked me if I knew what would be the best to feed a deer with."

"Thank you," I told both of them before I looked at Tani's exhausted face. "I guess you should better rest until the trial."

"I will make sure of that," Artyom promised. "Let's get you your pills."

"Pills?" I asked and he quickly explained how Tani still needed to regularly take her medication. "Don't worry, at the pharmacy should be many left," he told the girl and she just closed her eyes. "Ari was annoyin'," she murmured and I remembered how often the two of them had some little fights. "But he didn't deserve this," she continued. "Not at all."

Leaving the two of them behind Panini and I went upstairs to our rooms. For the first time I really noticed how many of them were abandoned by now and I knew that at least one more person would never get to sleep in their room again.

I had hoped to find some kind of evidence in Ari's room and apparently someone else already had the same idea. Reece still looked angry as he rummaged through Ari's stuff.

"Why won't this ever stop?" the small boy asked as we approached him. "Damn this bear!" I remembered that he and Ari had often hung around together so I enquired if he knew anything about the reasons Ari came to the hospital.

"Oh yes, that was a bloody mess," he said, sitting down on the bed and staring down at his own hands. "It was still about this stupid competition. Ari just couldn't give up on it. He somehow tried to capture that deer but in return it attacked him. Luckily I had been close but that beast had seriously battered him. It almost ripped of his arm."

"And so you brought him to the hospital?" I asked and he nodded. "Daichi helped us, too. But it was all in vain." He punched the wall in frustration, making Panini flinch slightly.

I could see how Reece started to blame himself and I tried to distract him from his dark thoughts by asking if he had found anything of importance in Ari's room. Reece regained his composure and told us about some utensils he found. Apparently Ari had tried to make some new bombs which wasn't actually unusual for him.

After Reece left I checked for myself but besides some forgotten leftover food and an unsettling amount of lighters I didn't find anything else interesting.

I would have loved to check on Vivienne once more before the Trial, I really wanted to know how she felt about Ari's death. But before I could go and look for her the screens all turned on once again. Ding-dang-dong!

"Attention please! Time's up! Everyone gather at the basement door! Everyone! Another breathtaking Class Trial is about to begin! Upupupu..."

 **Who could be the murderer? Will we ever find out? I do hope so.**

 **Anyway, reviews are always appreciated, they show me that someone cares about this story.**


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